Raising the Hunley: The Remarkable History and Recovery of the Lost Confederate Submarine

by Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf

Book Overview

The history of the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley is as astonishing as its disappearance. On February 17, 1864, after a legendary encounter with a Union battleship, the iron "fish boat" vanished without a trace somewhere off the coast of South Carolina. For more than a century the fate of the Hunley remained one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Civil War. Then, on August 8, 2000, with thousands of spectators crowding Charleston...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345447727
• ISBN13: 9780345447722
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Great Book !!

What an exciting and informative book! Part history, part research, part archealogy, but all joined and very readable. The incredible dedication and bravery of the crews who parished aboard the "fish-boat" deserve the highest honor. These men of the past never gave up, just as the modern day team who had to move natural and govermental mountains to raise her from her watery grave. Since the research is on going and the mysteries haven't been all solved this book does not have the definative answers, I try to log unto the hunley.org site periodically to check for new developments. It's well worth reading by anyone interested in Civil War history, early submarine warfare or archealogy.

One of the best books on the Hunley.

Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf have lived and breathed the Hunley since 1995 and it shows with this book.If you are unfamillar with the story of the Hunley,this is the book that will bring you up to speed.From the concept,to the attack,to the raising,to the excavation,Hicks and Kropf makes you feel like your right there.This book is a must read.

A marvelous book!

On 17 February 1864, the Confederate privateer submarine HUNLEY, then called a "fish-boat" or "torpedo boat," crewed by eight volunteers successfully attacked and sank a Union blockade ship off Charleston... and disappeared. This marvelous book recounts not only the history of the first successful attack submarine, but the mystery surrounding it. The story of the search for the ship, its discovery and its astounding recovery is documented, along with introducing the reader to a fascinating cast of characters involved in this real-life drama. Even if you have little interest in history, this is still a book well worth your time. It is frequently, and often not accurately, said of non-fiction that "it reads like a novel." This book really does. The story is not only well told, but the pacing of the story and character development is strong. That journalists, who are known for dry prose, could produce a book like this is refreshing. One thing I particularly liked were the brief biographies of the main characters that appear at the end, a sort of "what happened to them after this story." I won't belabor the facts revealed about the submarine (many), the attack (requiring incredible courage), or the people (combatants, searchers, and archaeologists) or the possible solutions to the mysteries surrounding this fabled ship. It is so rare to find a book today that is well-written, informative, compulsively readable. This book is all that, plus just down right entertaining. This book is a treasure. Read it!

The best of the Hunley histories

I first heard about the Confederate submersible H.L. Hunley 46 years ago when I was a scared five year old in St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, MN. I had an unheard crippling disease (everyone thought it was polio) and wasn't doing very well. There was no TV in our area of the hospital and I couldn't read more than a few words, but my Dad brought me a book about submarines. He and I used to stay up past my bedtime to watch "The Silent Service" WW II docu-dramas about the submarine service and he knew I was nuts about subs. On page three, was a painting of the "Huntley" (sic) getting ready to ram her torpedo into the hull of the USS Housatonic. I made my Dad and the nurses and the bigger kids in the childrens' ward read those pages over and over to me. Even then I wondered what could have happened to the sub and the brave sailors on board. Later I was able to talk to my great grandma who remembered a little of the civil war and told me what she knew about the Hunley. I've been hooked ever since. (By the way, the disease turned out to be septic arthritis and thanks to antibiotics I made a full recovery.)I have been an email correspondent with Brian Hicks and Schuyler Kropf, award-winning journalists of the Charleston (SC) Post and Courier newspaper for several years now. They have been on the Hunley "beat" ever since it's discovery in 1995 and I'm sure they have become really tired of my pestering them for measurements and modeling details for the RC model I am building of the Confederate sub. But ever since Mr. Hicks told me about their project I have been bursting at the seams to get my hands on a copy of their brand new book about the famous rebel "fishboat". I received my copy on a Friday and pretty much spent the whole weekend reading and relishing every word.First off, if you are expecting lots of new technical details and a myriad of new photos of the submarine, you might be a little disappointed. Mark K. Ragan's two books* still have more of the technical particulars about the H.L. Hunley and it's forbears. But if you are interested in new insights into the design, construction and recovery of the sub and a glimpse into the mind of wealthy New Orleans lawyer, former legislator, plantation owner and deputy chief customs collector Horace Lawson Hunley, this book is for you. An important and often overlooked aspect in the study of history is not just what happened but why it happened. The authors do a splendid job of delving into possible motives for what made Hunley the man he was and why he may have taken his boat on that fateful practice run that took his and his crews' lives. A driven man, Hunley kept copious notes to himself: points to drive home in letters, legal briefs, and motivational quotes worthy of a Dale Carnegie or Tony Robbins. He was also very curious as to what made great men great and made a note to himself to get a book on the subject of the deaths of "Great Men".Part two of the book begins with self-described adventurer Dr. L

This will go into multiple reprints!

This is the book for you regardless of whether you want a single volume on this facinating story or crave ever more detail after reading everything else available. Confederate submarine development is covered from its infancy in New Orleans right through the latest archeological discoveries in the laboratory. Written by two men who have covered this story since 1995 for the Charleston Post & Courier the reader glides through this excellent narrative as easily as the Hunley sliced through the water.I cannot recommend this highly enough. This is an extraordinary piece of history!