The Search Begins

The search for the Hunley began immediately after its disappearance, starting with a Union ship that started looking at the Housatonic very closely in the hopes of finding it. People looked for the ship in earnest, but the technology needed to find it did not exist yet. People searched long and hard and came back empty-handed-until May 1995.

Found At Last

After much effort, the Hunley was found. In 1980, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) began by exploring the Housatonic. Fifteen years later, archaeologist Wes Hall discovered the ship’s hatch cover, and they hit pay dirt. Hall and his colleagues revealed more portions of the ship and compared what they found to the ship’s replica at the History Museum of Charleston. Ralph Wilbanks took a video of the submarine, and the discovery was in the news for two to three days.