Breaking Barriers

The Southern States, otherwise known as the Confederacy, separated from the United States or the Union and caused the Civil War by taking Fort Sumter, the most important base of the North. Lincoln retaliated by ordering a blockade which prevented Southerners from selling and receiving badly needed goods. They became desperate, and thought of ways of breaking through the barricade.

The Pioneer

In response to this talented engineers James McClintock and Baxter Watson joined forces with fellow submarine innovator Horace L. Hunley, and the Pioneer was their first brainchild. It did fairly well, except for instances where the submarine’s crew started the engine at the bottom of a lake without realizing that they were not moving at all. The submarine was destroyed after a month to prevent it from being seized by the Union.