1864: H.L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in wartime.
The Hunley's attack served both to illustrate the submarine's effectiveness as a stealth weapon and to underscore the inherent dangers of fighting while submerged. Although the Hunley did succeed in sinking the U.S.S. Housatonic, a 16-gun, 1,240-ton sloop-of-war, the Confederate sub was lost in the engagement as well, taking her eight-man crew to the bottom of Charleston Harbor.
These were not the first fatalities aboard the Hunley. The boat sank twice during trials in 1863, killing a total of 13 men. In all, 21 men died aboard her.
The first submarine attack in history won't remind anybody of Das Boot. Rather than launching a torpedo, the Hunley embedded one in the Housatonic's hull below the waterline. The torpedo was detonated as the submarine backed away and speculation continues to this day as to whether the blast that sank the Union ship didn't kill the Hunley, too.
However death came, it apparently came suddenly. In 2000, the wreck of the Hunley was raised from the seabed. The remains of the crew were found at their stations, suggesting the men were not trying to escape the sub when it went down.
(Source: Friends of the Hunley, Wikipedia)
This article first appeared on Wired.com Feb. 17, 2007.
