HUNLEY EXCAVATION IS COMPLETE
December 7, 2001
The H. L. Hunley archaeological and conservation team has successfully completed
the excavation of the central compartment of the submarine. "We are now
spending some time drawing and photographing internal features, and finalizing
our documentation of the central compartment," said Maria Jacobsen, Senior
Archaeologist. "The completion of the excavation provides us with the
pieces of what many consider to be the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle," said
Warren Lasch, Chairman, Friends of the Hunley.
There were a number of exciting discoveries made on the very last days of the
excavation in the area beneath the forward conning tower. Two pieces of a thin
(5.6 mm in diameter) glass tube were found concreted to the submarine's hull
near Lt. George Dixon's post. Without a doubt these are the remains of the
submarine's depth gauge. At this point, we cannot say much more about this
exciting find, because the conservators have determined that it is not possible
to safely remove the pieces and study them just yet. But we will be able to do
so at a later date. Studying these pieces may provide important clues for
understanding what happened to the submarine and its crew. "It will be
important to learn how the damage occurred to the depth gauge. Was it broken
after the sinking or before? This may tell us the amount of the force of the
impact from the explosion that hit the Hunley moments after the torpedo
detonated. Also, the deeper we go without finding the remains of the eyepiece,
the greater the odds that the front view port may have been damaged on the night
of the attack setting in motion the events that led to the sinking. Also, the
importance of the objects contained in the blocks of sediment will become
increasingly important over the long term, as artifacts targets become scarcer
and scarcer within," said Senator Glenn McConnell, Chairman of the Hunley
Commission.
Next to the glass pieces, archaeologists found a concentration of coarse fibers
(or animal hair) that may be the remains of a degraded cushion. Adjacent to the
forward bulkhead and concreted to the bottom of the submarine are two heavily
encrusted metallic artifacts. They may be tools, but we cannot confirm this
before we have x-rayed the features. There are still some heavily concreted
artifacts in the submarine that will be removed by the conservators at a later
date. They include some of the earlier discovered canteens that are very fragile
and are concreted to the hull beneath the wooden bench.
Used with permission of The Post and
Courier and Charleston.Net