Of Ships and submarines

I forgot to post a blog about my trip down to Charleston, SC last week. Part of my trip included a tour of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. That's where the Confederate submarine Hunley is being restored and studied. The Hunley was an 8-man sub that sunk circa 1864 after recording the first ever sinking of an enemy ship by a submarine on February 17 of the same year. The sub relied on manual propulsion, with the crew turning what resembled a large crankshaft connected to the screw. Off the Hunley's bow a long spar extended outward with an explosive charge attached to its barbed end. The idea was for the sub to approach an enemy vessel, ram it, and in doing so attach the explosive charge. Upon retreating, the crew of the Hunley would trigger the submerged charge rupturing a hole in the enemy vessel. That is how the USS Housatonic was sunk.

Above you can see an artist's rendition of the spar with the explosive charge attached to its forward end. On the right you can see the Hunley as it currently resides in its water tank at the Lasch Lab. The sub is considered as an archeological artifact, and is being studied in a forensic manner. It is not known how the sub sank. However, once located and recovered, human and other remains were found inside the sub. An excellent example is the well preserved gold watch belonging to Lieutenant George E. Dixon. Although I now forget what it says, the inscription on the watch is quite legible even today.

Meanwhile today the weather was quite nice, so we took the opportunity to board our own ship and take her out sailing. It was her maiden voyage on Lake Keowee, since we moved her earlier this year. The wind was variable, topping out at about 6 mph, so not much beyond a slight breeze (merely force 2 on the Beaufort scale). Still, it was nice to unfurl the sails and shake of the mud dawber nests that had accumulated over the summer. Lake Keowee, at least the section that we were on today, is much smaller than the big water of Lake Hartwell that we sailed on last year. As a result, it was much as predicted by the Big Water marina owner who moved our boat a few months ago: "It's all tack, tack, tack!" since there's no large bodies of water set sail on. So our first impression of Lake Keowee sailing is a bit confined, but we hope to explore it a bit more later this fall.