Editing H. L. Hunley (section)

== Construction and testing ==
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2017}}<!--only one paragraph has a citation-->
[[File:Hunley-1.jpg|left|thumb|Inboard profile and plan drawings, after sketches by [[William Alexander (military engineer)|W.A. Alexander]] (1863)]]
[[File:Confederate ironclads Chicora and Palmetto State in Charleston harbor.png|right|thumb|CSS ''Chicora'' and CSS ''Palmetto State'']]
[[File:Horace L Hunley (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|[[Horace Lawson Hunley]], the submarine's namesake and inventor]]

[[File:PSM V58 D167 Confederate submarine which sank the housatonic.png|left|thumb| Drawings of ''H. L. Hunley'' from 1900.]]
Construction of ''Hunley'' began soon after the loss of ''[[American Diver]]''. At this stage, ''Hunley'' was variously referred to as the "fish boat", the "fish torpedo boat", or the "porpoise". Legend held that ''Hunley'' was made from a cast-off [[Boiler (steam generator)|steam boiler]]—perhaps because a cutaway drawing by William Alexander, who had seen her, showed a short and stubby machine. In fact, ''Hunley'' was designed and built for her role, and the sleek, modern-looking craft shown in R.G. Skerrett's 1902 drawing is an accurate representation. Each end was equipped with [[ballast tank]]s that could be flooded by valves or pumped dry by [[Pump|hand pumps]]. Extra ballast was added using iron weights bolted to the underside of the hull. If the submarine needed additional buoyancy to rise in an emergency, the iron weight could be removed by unscrewing the heads of the bolts from inside the vessel.

The hull of the ship is estimated to originally have been 4 feet 3 inches (1.30) in diameter. The two hatches, accessible by means of [[conning tower]], located in the forward and [[aft]] of the vessel, are estimated to have originally measured at 16.5 inches (420&nbsp;mm) in width and 21 inches (530&nbsp;mm) in length. The small sizing of the hatches and the cramped quarters made entering, exiting, and maneuvering about the ship remarkably difficult. Hunley was designed for a crew of eight, seven to turn the hand-cranked ducted propeller at about 3.5 [[horsepower]] (2.6&nbsp;kW), and one to steer and direct the boat. At the height of its speed, Hunley could reach 4 [[Knot (unit)|knots]] [Wills, 2017].

By July 1863, ''Hunley'' was ready for a demonstration. Supervised by Confederate [[Admiral]] [[Franklin Buchanan]], ''Hunley'' successfully attacked a coal flatboat in Mobile Bay. Following this, the submarine was shipped by rail to Charleston, South Carolina, on 12 August 1863. However, the Confederate military seized the submarine from her private builders and owners shortly after arriving, turning her over to the Confederate Army. ''Hunley'' would operate as a Confederate Army vessel from then on, although Horace Hunley and his partners would remain involved in her further testing and operation. While sometimes called CSS ''Hunley'', she was never officially commissioned into service.

Confederate Navy Lieutenant [[John A. Payne]] of [[CSS Chicora|CSS ''Chicora'']] volunteered to be ''Hunley''{{'}}s captain, and seven men from ''Chicora'' and [[CSS Palmetto State|CSS ''Palmetto State'']] volunteered to operate her. On 29 August 1863, ''Hunley''{{'}}s new crew was preparing to make a test dive when Lieutenant Payne accidentally stepped on the lever controlling the sub's diving planes as she was running on the surface. This caused ''Hunley'' to dive with one of her hatches still open. Payne and two others escaped, but the other five crewmen drowned.<br />
''H. L. Hunley'' crew lost 29 August 1863:
* Michael Cane
* Nicholas Davis
* Frank Doyle
* John Kelly
* Absolum Williams

The Confederate Army took control of ''Hunley'', with all orders coming directly from General [[P. G. T. Beauregard]], with Lt. [[George E. Dixon]] placed in charge. On 15 October 1863, ''Hunley'' failed to surface after a mock attack, killing all eight crewmen. Among these was Hunley himself, who had joined the crew for the exercise and possibly had taken over command from Dixon for the attack maneuver. The Confederate Navy once more salvaged the submarine and returned her to service.<br />
''H. L. Hunley'' Crew lost 15 October 1863:<ref>[https://civilwartalk.com/threads/hunley-crew-wasnt-using-air-circulation-system-the-night-sub-sank-ship-then-vanished.164802/ Civil War Forum]</ref>
* Horace Hunley
* Thomas S. Parks
* Henry Beard.
* R. Brookbanks
* John Marshall
* Charles McHugh
* Joseph Patterson
* Charles L. Sprague