Civil War Sub Had Advanced Technology
Scientists excavating the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which sank off Charleston in 1864, say the sub had a brake on its propeller--more evidence of technology that was advanced for its time.
The excavation of the silt inside the Hunley has revealed a flywheel near the rear of the hand-cranked submarine. The flywheel was located behind the gears of the sub’s crank and connected to the propeller.
Scientists say it acted as a brake on the propeller.
“Again, this shows us that the Hunley was ahead of her time when it came to design and engineering,” said Bob Neyland, Hunley project director.
The Hunley was the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship, a distinction that was short-lived. It sank off Charleston in 1864 soon after disabling the Union blockade ship Housatonic. The sub was raised in the summer of 2000 and brought to a conservation lab at the old Charleston Navy Base.
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