 As Charleston, South Carolina was tightly blockaded by the Yankee fleet, Captain Horace Lawson Hunley came up with the idea of building a boat that could travel under water in order to blow up the blockaders. He designed and built the world's first submarine out of boiler plate.
Hunley was drowned along with his crew in an accident during the final testing of the craft. The submarine, christened The Hunley, was retrieved, refitted and manned by a new nine man crew. This crew eventually blew up the Yankee warship Housatonic using an explosive charge attached to a long spar.
The Hunley's crew signalled the shore batteries, using signal lamps, that they had survived the explosion but the vessel and crew were never seen or heard from again. The Hunley became the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.
The Hunley was recently discovered on the bottom just outside Charleston harbor and has been raised. The submarine is currently undergoing restoration in Charleston.
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