This is pretty amazing even for me who knows nothing about submarines. Peter, you may have known about this, but if not, thought you might like to see it. Copypaste or click the website icon below.

http://news.yahoo.com/complete-civil-war-submarine-unveiled-first-time-004714070.html

Ginger:

Thanks so much for that really intriguing link. Just imagine a hand-cranked propellor; it must have been like serving on the slave galleys. We recovered a sunken 1901 submarine some years ago (1998 I think) called the Holland I as it was the Royal Navy's first commissioned vessel of this type.

Thereby hangs a strange tale of its own:

John Philip Holland was born in Ireland in 1841. He emigrated to America where his first successful submarine design was paid for by Irish nationalists seeking Ireland's liberation from Britain. Holland's first experimental submarine convinced his backers to pay for a bigger vessel, which was launched in 1878 and named the Fenian Ram.

In 1900 after decades of struggle and disappointment the US Navy accepted Holland's Type 6 design which one US newspaper described as "Uncle Sam's Devil of the Deep". The Holland Type 6 was the culmination of decades of research and design. The father of the submarine John P. Holland had triumphed at last.

Today, Holland I is on display in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport, Hampshire, and is a big tourist attraction.

But when you think of those men of the CSS Hunley back in the mid 1860's, you have to salute their courage in venturing to sea in that new and unproven prototype.True pioneering spirit that's for sure.

Peter

Where are you from? England

Peter and Ginger:

There was a PBS program on this submarine a few months ago. Peter, I thought I'd sent you an email on it, but apparently I didn't. Sorry about that! If you can locate a PBS DVD on it, it was indeed fascinating.

Where are you from? Ardmore, Pennsylvania

Thanks for the info, Gloria.