The Hunley’s only weapon was a torpedo mounted to the submarine’s bow by a 16-foot metal spar. At the far end of that spar was a 135-pound gunpowder bomb with a lanyard style trigger.
By all reports, the attack went perfectly. The Hunley’s spar rammed into the Housatonic’s starboard quarter, piercing the hull planking and dislodging the torpedo.
As planned, the Hunley’s crew reversed the direction of their propeller, backing the submarine away from its wounded quarry. The torpedo remained tethered to the submarine by a 150-foot lanyard attached to the triggering device. When the sub had backed far enough away from the target, the lanyard went taught and pulled the triggering lever.
The torpedo detonated, sending USS Housatonic to the bottom of Charleston Harbor with a loss of five lives. Nearly the entire crew of the Union sloop escaped, either by scrambling into the ship’s longboats, or by climbing the masts and rigging which extended above the water when the Housatonic settled on the shallow bottom.
Tactically, the attack was a success. The target was destroyed, and the most powerful ship in the Union’s blockading force was eliminated. As a demonstration-of-concept, the sinking of the USS Housatonic proved that a submarine could destroy a fully armed warship.
This realization would go on to spur navies all over the world into action. The attack submarine was no longer a hypothetical exercise. It was real and lethal.
Only one factor detracted from the totality of the Confederate Navy’s victory on that February night. The submarine H. L. Hunley was sunk with the loss of all hands sometime after carrying out their successful attack.
Although the sub has since been raised and examined by marine archeologists, forensic genealogists, and specialists in a diverse range of scientific fields, the cause of her loss is still unknown.
As of this writing, no one knows what killed Lieutenant George Dixon and the seven men who served under his command. No one knows how or why the H. L. Hunley joined her target in death on the bottom of Charleston Harbor.
All that can be said for certain is that this rudimentary Civil War vessel, with her manually operated propeller and her bomb-on-a-pole weapon system, was a harbinger of vastly greater carnage. Her inventors, Horace L. Hunley, Baxter Watson, and James R. McClintock, could have had no possible inkling of what they were unleashing on their unsuspecting world.
CHAPTER 49
“There’s coffee on the sideboard,” said Captain Heller. “Everybody grab a cup and fix it however you like it.”
He was already seated at the wardroom table, a steaming mug positioned within easy reaching distance.
The others followed his recommendation and headed for the coffee urn, lining up (perhaps unconsciously) in order of seniority. The XO, Lieutenant Commander Diane Dubois, went first; followed by the ship’s Combat Systems Officer, Lieutenant Boyd Wilkens; then the Undersea Warfare Officer, Ensign Todd Moore; with the sonar chief, STGC(SW) Michael Scott, bringing up the rear.
When all had doctored their cups to match their various preferences, they settled into chairs across the table from the commanding officer.
“First question…” said Heller. “When do we offload our guests?”
The XO stirred her coffee. “OPS has got that all arranged, Captain. We’ll be receiving an MH-60S out of GITMO’s Leeward Point Field at thirteen-hundred. They’re bringing their own guard detachment to escort the prisoners. We’ll do a quick hot pump to top off the helo’s fuel tanks, and then they’ll load up our prisoners and the interpreters. All guests should be off the ship well before fourteen-hundred.”
“Good,” Heller said. “Next question… Has everyone read the after-action reports from the Winterburn and the Albany?”
All four heads nodded.
“Excellent,” said Heller. “I thought we could take a few minutes to talk through what we know about all known encounters with the North Korean supercav sub, including our own. Sort of an informal brainstorming exercise, to see if there’s anything we’ve been missing.”
He looked across the table at the small group. “Okay, boys and girls, who’s got something they want to share with the class?”
After several seconds, Chief Scott raised a finger. “I’ve been going over what happened with USS Albany yesterday, sir. I think it’s pretty clear that the Korean submarine was taken by surprise when Albany’s Mark-48s went hot. Before that moment, the enemy sub made no attempt to maneuver, or to launch weapons.”
The assemblage waited for the chief to continue.
“That tells me,” Chief Scott said, “that the Albany managed to sneak in fairly close without being detected. Not much of a shock, considering how quiet the 688 boats are. It’s also consistent with estimated performance characteristics of most North Korean sonar sets. According to the latest Acoustic Intelligence summaries, their most advanced model is three or four generations down from the Chinese Type H/SQC-207, and even that’s not anything to write home about.”
“We don’t know what kind of sonar they’re using,” said the Combat Systems Officer. “And we don’t want to underestimate their capabilities. They’ve already demonstrated propulsion technologies that are well beyond anything we were expecting. How do we know they haven’t made similar breakthroughs with their sonar equipment?”
“That’s a possibility, sir,” said the chief. “It’s also possible that they’ve acquired high-end sonar gear somewhere on the international market. Maybe a German CSU 90, or a French S-CUBE suite, which is supposed to be pretty shit-hot. But I don’t think they’ve done any of that.”
“Why not?” asked the CSO.
“Because they haven’t detected us,” said the chief. “Remember, we tracked this contact on the 22nd of February, before the incident with USS Mahan. We saw no sign that it was alerted to our presence. Three days later, the contact fired on the Mahan, but it left us alone. We would have been easy pickings right then, but the North Korean sub acted like we weren’t even there. Then we tracked the contact again on the 28th. It didn’t shoot at us. It didn’t maneuver. It didn’t make the jump to light speed. It just went on its merry way without noticing us.”
“You think that means we’re invisible to this guy?” the XO asked.
Chief Scott shook his head. “No, ma’am. Any vessel can be detected under the right acoustic conditions. But we are significantly quieter than any of the earlier Arleigh Burke flights. I think that means we can probably get in a lot closer than other ships before our acoustic signature creeps above the detection threshold of whatever sonar they’re using. Just like the Albany did.”
Ensign Moore paused with coffee cup half-way to mouth. “Chief, your use of the word ‘probably’ is not filling me with confidence.”
The chief gave his division officer a low-wattage smile. “Best I can do, sir. I could have our team run some counter-detection predictions, based on performance characteristics similar to the Type H/SQC-207 or the Type H/SQ2-262B. But whatever comes out will be an educated guess at best, and we’ll still be stuck with probably.”