H. L. Hunley (submarine)

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|Ship name = ''H. L. Hunley'' |Ship namesake= Horace Lawson Hunley |Ship builder = James McClintock |Ship laid down = Early 1863 |Ship launched = July 1863 |Ship acquired = August 1863 |Ship in service = 17 February 1864 |Ship out of service = 17 February 1864 |Ship sunk = 17 February 1864 |Ship status = Raised in 2000 and preserved in H. L. Hunley Museum }}

|Ship length = (unconfirmed) |Ship beam = |Ship propulsion = Hand-cranked ducted propeller |Ship speed = (surface) |Ship complement = 2 officer, 6 enlisted |Ship armament = 1 spar torpedo }}

| locmapin = South Carolina#USA | built = 1864 | architect = Park & Lyons; Hunley, McClintock & Watson | architecture = | added = December 29, 1978 | refnum = 78003412 | website = }} |}

''H. L. Hunley'', also known as the ''Hunley'', '''CSS ''H. L. Hunley'', or CSS ''Hunley''''', was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War. ''Hunley'' demonstrated the advantages and dangers of undersea warfare. She was the first combat submarine to sink a warship (), although ''Hunley'' was not completely submerged and, following her attack, was lost along with her crew before she could return to base. Twenty-one crewmen died in the three sinkings of ''Hunley'' during her short career. She was named for her inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, shortly after she was taken into government service under the control of the Confederate States Army at Charleston, South Carolina.

''Hunley'', nearly long, was built at Mobile, Alabama, and launched in July 1863. She was then shipped by rail on 12 August 1863 to Charleston. ''Hunley'' (then referred to as the "fish boat", the "fish torpedo boat", or the "porpoise") sank on 29 August 1863 during a test run, killing five members of her crew. She sank again on 15 October 1863, killing all eight of her second crew, including Horace Lawson Hunley himself, who was aboard at the time, even though he was not a member of the Confederate military. Both times ''Hunley'' was raised and returned to service.

On 17 February 1864, ''Hunley'' attacked and sank the 1,240-ton United States Navy screw sloop-of-war ''Housatonic'', which had been on Union blockade-duty in Charleston's outer harbor. ''Hunley'' did not survive the attack and sank, taking all eight members of her third crew with her, and was lost.

Finally located in 1995, ''Hunley'' was raised in 2000 and is on display in North Charleston, South Carolina, at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center on the Cooper River. Examination in 2012 of recovered ''Hunley'' artifacts suggested that the submarine was as close as to her target, ''Housatonic'', when her deployed torpedo exploded, which caused the submarine's sinking. Provided by Wikipedia