Construction was delayed by disputes between de Villeroi and the Navy over modifications to his design. After weeks of arguments, de Villeroi was removed from the project and construction was completed without his supervision.
The unnamed submarine was launched on May 1, 1862, almost five months behind schedule. She was towed to the Navy shipyards at Hampton Roads for sea trials and testing. There, while moored alongside a paddlewheel steamer, the sub was spotted by a local newspaper reporter. He saw the rounded green hull floating with decks awash, and called her the ‘Alligator,’ a nickname that stuck.
In August of 1862, the Alligator was given a crew and placed under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge. After a number of tests, Selfridge reported that the submarine was ungainly, underpowered, and “a failure.”
The shipyard removed the paddles and replaced them with a screw propeller. This modification increased her speed to four knots, which was considered acceptable for the sub’s anticipated duties.
Following a successful test that was observed by President Lincoln, Rear Admiral Samuel du Pont ordered the steamship, USS Sumter, to tow the Alligator to Port Royal, South Carolina, in preparation for the capture of Charleston.
En route to Port Royal, the Sumter encountered bad weather. The Alligator sank in the storm, ending her career without a single combat engagement.
South of the Mason-Dixon Line, the Confederacy was working on submarine designs of its own.
In early 1863, private investors in the southern states financed the construction of a submarine known unofficially as the Fish Boat. Based on plans drawn up by marine engineers Horace L. Hunley, Baxter Watson and James R. McClintock, the sub was 40 feet long and carried a crew of eight men: seven to turn a hand-cranked propeller shaft, and one to command the vessel and steer.
The main hull was a cylinder formed from riveted iron plating, giving rise to later speculations that the submarine was adapted from a steam boiler. Engineering plans, construction notes, and modern forensic analysis have shown such speculations to be false. The iron cylinder was specifically designed to be a submarine hull.
The Fish Boat was the third attempt by Hunley, Watson, and McClintock to develop an effective attack submarine. Both earlier attempts — the Pioneer in 1861, and the American Diver in 1862—had ended in failure.
When the Fish Boat was launched in July of 1863, its design incorporated lessons learned from the Pioneer and American Diver. Each end of the new submarine was fitted with ballast tanks that could be flooded or emptied by hand pumps. Additional ballast took the form of iron weights which could be jettisoned in an emergency.
The sub’s hull had two watertight hatches, one forward and one aft, atop short conning towers. Each conning tower had portholes for visibility and triangular cutwaters to reduce drag and improve speed through the water. A pair of adjustable diving planes were mounted near the bow, connected to a control lever inside the hull.
Not long after launch, the Fish Boat completed her first operational trial, successfully attacking a coal flatboat in Mobile Bay. Afterward, the sub was shipped by rail to Charleston, South Carolina, for additional testing.
Upon arrival, she was commandeered by the Confederate Army and remained under military control thereafter. A Confederate Navy Lieutenant, John A. Payne, volunteered to serve as captain. Seven enlisted sailors from CSS Chicora and CSS Palmetto State signed on as crew.
On August 29, 1863, as the submarine was running on the surface, Lieutenant Payne accidentally stepped on the lever controlling the diving planes. The sub dove beneath the water with her hatches still open. Payne and two other men escaped the flooding craft, but the other five crewmen drowned.
Some historical accounts maintain that the fatal August 29 accident was caused by the wake of a passing ship, but this is not supported by Lieutenant Payne’s report of the event, or by the testimony of Charles Hasker, one of the surviving crew members.
Still convinced that the submarine could operate as a viable weapon, the Confederate Navy raised the Fish Boat and returned the unlucky craft to service.
A second crew was recruited in Charleston and began training for combat. Although he was not part of the official crew, on October 15, 1863, Horace Hunley was allowed to assume command of the submarine for a training dive. Possibly the Confederate Navy hoped that Hunley’s knowledge as one of the craft’s designers might give him special insight into its proper operation. If so, that hope was not well founded. The submarine sank again, and this time there were no survivors.
The Confederate Navy raised the ill-fated craft yet again, recovering the bodies of Horace Hunley and the seven crewmembers.
Hunley was buried with full military ceremonies at Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery. The submarine he had helped design was renamed the H. L. Hunley in honor of his work and sacrifice for the Confederacy.
It should be noted that the sub was never formally commissioned. Consequently, the ‘CSS’ prefix cannot be accurately applied. Sources which refer to the submarine as the CSS H. L. Hunley are technically incorrect.
Her potential aside, the Hunley had so far proven to be much more dangerous to Confederate sailors than to their Union enemies. With this in mind, General P.G.T. Beauregard, in command of the defense of Charleston, issued orders forbidding further attempts to employ the submarine.
That might have put an end to the Hunley’s service if it were not for Lieutenant George Dixon, a Confederate Army officer who believed that the sub could indeed sink Union ships. Dixon requested an audience with General Beauregard and made a persuasive case for being allowed to take the submarine into action.
The Hunley was again readied for service. In view of the submarine’s growing infamy, local sailors were understandably less eager to volunteer for the third attempt. Lieutenant Dixon’s determination was sufficient to overcome the dark reputation surrounding the vessel, as he did manage to assemble a crew, although the composition of personnel suggests that the recruitment process may have been challenging. Instead of southern-born American sailors, he ended up with a mix of soldiers, sailors, and European merchant seamen.
On the night of February 17, 1864, after a training period of unknown duration, Dixon took the Hunley into combat. The target was the USS Housatonic, a sail and steam powered sloop with long-range guns. With her firepower and speed, the Housatonic was the cornerstone of the Union’s blockade of Charleston Harbor. Sinking the sloop might weaken the Union stranglehold enough to allow Confederate ships to run the blockade.
At 8:45 p.m., under a bright moon and a calm sea, the Hunley made her approach to the target. A lookout aboard the Union ship spotted the approaching submarine and raised the alarm. Due to their construction and positioning, the Housatonic’s large guns could not be depressed far enough to bear on the attacking vessel.