Well, I just got back from a 2 week east coast vacation. The first week, we spent traveling from New York to South Carolina and the last week we spent at a rented beach house in Folly Beach, SC playing in the water. Our last sight seeing stop before going to the beach house was a small museum/conservation center where the Confederate submarine HL Hunley is being conserved in Charleston, SC. For those of you who don't know, the Hunley was history's first combat submarine to sink an enemy vessel. It sank a US ship in Charleston Harbor on it's only mission in 1864 and never returned. The vessel was found over a century later and raised from the sea floor in 2000. The museum is really neat, it tells the story of the submarine and it's place in history. Frankly the way the story is told in the museum does lean on the "Lost Cause" narrative a little heavy (in my opinion). But, it's worth stopping by. So...what about the $20 Gold? Well...here's the story. The submarine commander was a man named George Dixon, he was a Lieutenant in the CSA Army. Family legend stated that Dixon's sweetheart had given him a $20 Double Eagle as a good luck charm when he went off to fight. The story goes on to say that he had that coin in his pocket at the Battle of Shiloh when he was struck by a Union bullet. But, the bullet hit the coin deflecting it and saving his life. Dixon was wounded in the leg during the battle. A good story...but one that doesn't feel true. Or is it? In 2002 when they were examining the inside of the submarine, they found a 1860 $20 Double Eagle near where the remains of Lt. Dixon was found. The coin was deformed and on the back it was engraved "Shiloh April 6, 1862 My life Preserver G. E. D." Forensic study of Dixon's remains also found evidence of a healed injury on his hip...right where his pocket (and the coin would have been). The coin is on display at the Hunley Museum. Here is the coin...and of course a photo of the sub. It was a fun experience to see the submarine and the artifacts and if you ever get the chance it's a quick stop worth checking out.
We got to visit this museum in 2016, and I agree that it’s definitely worth a stop. It’s nice to see that they’ve made significant progress with the conservation efforts on the Hunley since we saw it five years ago.
You know. I overheard a few people saying they had visited it a number of times over the last two decades and were very vocal about how much the conservation had progressed.
I saw an episode of "Adventures of Superman" where a criminal shot at Clark Kent and everyone thought he was Superman....and then he took out a silver dollar or some other coin and it was dented. Secret identity preserved !
Now that is so cool . . . Love reading history like this but its a very sad one , as in loosing life Conservation has been done on the sub since its been raised . Looks like , it cleaned up pretty well . With all at what was in it . Wonder at what happened to the remain(s) of the individual(s) in the metal coffin ? Hopefully given back to their descent family of buried in the national cemetery . . . Also , did they say at how long the sub will be submerged until the metal can be exposed to oxygen once again ?
The crew was buried in the Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. They did not say how long it would need to be in the treatment bath. The solution it is in is designed to remove salt that has leached into the metal. They did have a restored canon on display from a CSA warship which was such and had been treated in the same manner...so hopefully it will be displayable in the foreseeable future but nothing gave a timeline. I do have more of the sub I could post...but they are all similar. You can't get any closer to it.
I watched a programme on PBS about the recovery efforts with an emphasis on identifying the crew. Some crew members will likely never be identified other than a first name or last name etc. DNA and other dental exam data is fascinating in that they could determine that one crew member was from Europe based on what he ate over a period of time. I vaguely remember that one crew member possessed a button from a Union army jacket. But the $20 legend - being confirmed and validated is remarkable.
When I was there, they were selling a very nice replica of this coin in the gift shop. I thought about mounting a coin exhibit based around this story, but when I started working on it, I found out that my model of the Hunley from the gift shop was too big to the case cover to close. I did buy a real 1860 $20 gold piece for the exhibit that I have been able to use.
I noticed that where the engraved the coin on the reverse they first sanded down the surface to get a clean spot for the engraving. I can't help but notice they removed the word "United" and half of "States." I wonder if this spot was chosen intentionally but the CSA person who engraved it.
That is an interesting observation. That may have explained the placement of the engraving, although I don't think that the coin would have looked as nice had it been placed at the top of the reverse.
I totally agree. It may simply have been the most aesthetic surface to do it and nothing more. But...it does seem poetic.
Going through my photos, I got some good shots of the stern, but nothing of the bow because you could see it from the observation platform above the restoration. That’s too bad because the people who designed this ship were very talented. The shape was very much like the modern submarine, and hull was smooth. The many troubles included the need to power it with human mussle and a tedious system of submersion and raising that had to be perfectly executed. One mistake with one of the valves, and everyone on board was dead. The designer realized that powering the sub was a problem from the beginning. They experimented with a primitive sort of electric motor, but could not get it to work. Today submarines are powered by electric motors using electricity generated by Diesel engines or steam produced by atomic energy. The Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in wartime. It would not be done again until 1914, during the First World War.
No , those foto s a good . Just keep them coming at now matter at what you have . Its archive at what you take , as in with them or with you . Its a great part of history and also a sad one . As in the war ( or conflict of interest ) and the loss of life , imo Something that can not be rewritten and should be preserved . . .
