This day in Charleston

October 15

2 entries · 1863

1863The Hunley

Horace Hunley and seven men are lost

“An unfortunate accident occurred this morning with the submarine boat, by which Capt. F. L. Hunley and 7 men lost their lives, in an attempt to run under the navy receiving ship. The boat left the wharf at 9.25 a.m.” It was the submarine’s second fatal sinking; she was raised again, and four months later she sank the Housatonic and was lost with her third crew.

Journal of Operations in Charleston Harbor, OR I, 28, Pt. 1

1863Command

What the Navy Department observes

Dahlgren forwarded to Gillmore an observation from the Navy Department of 9 October. Washington kept both commanders at Charleston under steady pressure to do something, and neither could do the thing being asked.

Official Records, Series I, Vol. 28, Pt. 2

Entries are dated from the War of the Rebellion official records, the naval official records and contemporary Charleston sources. Browse the whole year.