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Mystery of What Killed the Hunley Crew: SOLVED

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  • Mystery of What Killed the Hunley Crew: SOLVED

    Researchers from Duke University in North Carolina calculated an 85 per cent chance of immediate death for the crew aboard US civil war submarine the HL Hunley in 1864.
    Johnny Lloyd
    John "Johnny" Lloyd
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  • #2
    Re: Mystery of what killed the Hunley crew: SOLVED

    Here is a link to the academic report. It's fairly technical, but is fascinating reading.

    The submarine H.L. Hunley was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship during combat; however, the cause of its sinking has been a mystery for over 150 years. The Hunley set off a 61.2 kg (135 lb) black powder torpedo at a distance less than 5 m (16 ft) off its bow. Scaled experiments were performed that measured black powder and shock tube explosions underwater and propagation of blasts through a model ship hull. This propagation data was used in combination with archival experimental data to evaluate the risk to the crew from their own torpedo. The blast produced likely caused flexion of the ship hull to transmit the blast wave; the secondary wave transmitted inside the crew compartment was of sufficient magnitude that the calculated chances of survival were less than 16% for each crew member. The submarine drifted to its resting place after the crew died of air blast trauma within the hull.
    Chad Teasley

    "Mississippians don't know, and refuse to learn, how to surrender to an enemy."
    Lt Col James Autry, CSA, May 1862

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