Nine men in a rigged-out steam boiler cranked out of Breach Inlet near Mt.Pleasant, S.C. and changed naval history forever. It was not until 50 years later in 1914 that the next ship would be brought down by a submarine. This crisply written account is an excellent introduction to one of the most facinating subplots of the entire War for Southern Independence. Forced by necessity to outwit their industrial foe the South resorted to and developed many innovations to counter the vulnerability their rivers and coastline presented. Mines (then called torpedos), ironclads, floating batteries and rams were just a few. It is this writers opinion than none were so bold, desperate, courageous and far-thinking as the H.L.Hunley. It was actually the third of three built by Watson & McClintock of New Orleans. Horance Hunley completely underwrote the second which sunk in Mobile Bay and contributed a third of the funds for the final sub which bore his name. Simple in its construction, unforgiving of error she claimed three crews, including her namesake before she took her place in history. Meet the men and ideas which gave her life against the backdrop of a desperate Charleston holding on against a merciless enemy. Only now in a specially designed laboratory in Charleston is she finally yielding the secrets of what happened that fateful night in Feb. 1864.

The story of the CSS Hunley's successful attack on the Union Sloop-of-War, the Husatonic is both riveting military and political history. There is enough detail for you die hard sub fans, the way the comparatively primitive technology wrestled with the problems of manned undersea operations of a warship. Students of history will love the gripping and tragic descriptions of the struggle of the besieged,blockaded, and bombarded southern cities endured, making the confedaracy desparate to enough to go ahead with a daring technological leap even though the first two crews died in the testing phase of this remarkable vessel. Highly recomended.