Mark K. Ragan

As soon as I saw the cover I had to read this book. What a contradiction of terms “submarine warfare” and the “civil war”! You would not think the two go together. I had heard the stories of the famous Hunley but are you kidding me, there were more submarines! In this book Mark Ragan tells the incredible story of the dozens of submarines that were created and tested during the civil war. I was surprised with each turn of the page as I learned more and more about that remarkable war. show more A must read for any civil war or submarine buff but even more important to any American interested in learning the true history of America! show less

Intriguing. Everybody has heard of the CSS Hunley, of course, but I had no idea there were that many other “submarine” vessels used by both sides in the American Civil War. Author Mark Ragan has done yeoman service in tracking down dozens of obscure references in contemporary documents; his researches were hampered because many Confederate government records were lost in the burning of Richmond, and many more were deliberately destroyed because the builders and operators of Confederate show more submarines were not quite sure if they would be treated as pirates. There are, therefore, lots of tantalizing clues to vessels that may have been figments of someone’s imagination or actual working craft.


The Union, of course, had vastly more resources than the Confederacy, but less incentive to build submarines because of lack of targets. The Union was well aware of the threat from the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia and, simultaneously with building USS Monitor, undertook construction of the Alligator, a submersible intended to deal with the Virginia if the Monitor couldn’t. The Alligator was not a great success; the original propulsion system was a set of paddle-like oars, which feathered on the forward stroke. The best Alligator could do with this setup was 1½ knots, which wasn’t even enough to hold against a river current. When the oars were replaced by a manually cranked propeller, the Alligator's speed increased to something potentially useful, but by then the Virginia had already been dealt with. Since the Alligator incorporated a lock-out chamber for a diver, it was suggested she be used to clear river obstructions and operate against bridge pilings; unfortunately all the feasible targets were in water too shallow for the Alligator to submerge.


I was surprised by the number of innovations both sides thought up. These included the snorkel, the periscope, compressed air for blowing ballast, rebreather systems using calcium hydroxide to absorb carbon dioxide while adding compressed oxygen, the already mentioned diver lockout chamber, and something reminiscent of the WWII Italian “chariot”, which carried a diver on the outside. Unfortunately, no single vessel ever combined all these innovations. The biggest handicaps to a successful submarine were the lack of a means of propulsion except for human muscle power, and the lack of an efficient offensive weapon. Both sides were well aware of these problems; Confederate documents speak of trying to develop a submarine “electro-magnetic engine” and a submarine steam engine. For an offensive weapon, the original design was to use a towed explosive charge with contact detonators. The submarine would dive under its target and pull the charge against it from the other side. The towed charge was tested successfully against anchored targets, but its usefulness against a ship able to maneuver was dubious. Nevertheless, it was enough of a threat to the Union navy that ironclads operating against Charleston were ordered to set out log booms when at anchor (another innovation, foreshadowing the development of antitorpedo netting).


Again, both sides more or less simultaneously hit on the only remotely practical air-independent mechanism for a self-propelled torpedo: rockets. The Union version was tested in the Washington Navy Yard, and the schooner Diana achieved the distinction of being the first vessel ever sunk by a self-propelled torpedo. Unfortunately, the Diana was not the target aimed at. The Confederate version was constructed in Mobile Bay, and from what little documentation is available seems to have been a rocket-propelled semi-submerged boat launched from a catamaran. There’s no record of it being used.


The exploits of the Hunley are, of course, the best documented of any Civil War submarine and form about one third of the book. I remember reading accounts of the Hunley as a schoolboy, which always described the vessel as armed with a contact-exploding spar torpedo and sinking from being sucked into the hole created in the Housatonic. It would be interesting to document exactly how this misinformation came about (and it’s a lesson in “junk history”); all the facts were well known and documented at the time of the Hunley’s mission. The spar torpedo used by the Hunley was a harpoon-like affair, intended embed in a wooden hull and to slide off the spar as the Hunley backed away. A line connected to the Hunley at one end and a trigger in the charge at the other would detonate the torpedo when the Hunley had backed away a safe distance. Witnesses on the Housatonic verify that this is exactly what happened, and the reports have been available since 1864. Similar, the Housatonic sank in shallow water and divers explored the wreck many times, never finding any trace of the Hunley.


That doesn’t mean there are no more mysteries; when the Hunley was located and raised it was well away from its target and on a course back to base. The crew’s remains were all in place; the crankers on their bench and the captain in the conning tower. There was no sign of any struggle to escape (as had been grimly obvious in the Hunley’s previous two sinkings). It’s speculated that Lieutenant Dixon opened the hatch to get better bearings and the Hunley was swamped by a wave, but that doesn’t explain why the entire crew was found in their places; you would think there would be some evidence of trying to escape, specially if one of the hatches was already open.


Ragan’s no Shelby Foote, but his writing is straightforward and quite readable. The book is extensively illustrated with maps and contemporary drawings. The only additional thing I would have liked is a nice isometric view of the Hunley; however, excellent reconstructions are available on the web. I have got say that I'm in awe of the bravery of the Hunley’s crew; the interior is almost unimaginably claustrophobic. Just about any military activity in the Civil War takes more courage than I’m capable of, but being packed in a near-fetal position inside something not larger than a medium-sized sewer pipe, knowing that two previous crews had been lost, then taking the whole thing underwater makes my hair stand on end even now. They may have been on the wrong side, but when the Hunley’s crew was recovered they were buried with full honors in a ceremony attended by as many submariners as could show up. And they deserved it.) show less