The H. L. Hunley Submarine: History and Mystery from the Civil War

by Fran Hawk, Monica Wyrick (Illustrator)

Overview

The fascinating tale of the long-missing submarine that was the first to sink an enemy ship during wartime

The story of the H. L. Hunley submarine is about American ingenuity and real people who were inventive, loyal, brave, resilient, persistent, and adventurous. The Hunley, built by the Confederate Army during the Civil War, was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship during wartime. After that historic feat, the Hunley disappeared.

For more than a century, the fate and location of the Confederate submarine remained unknown. In The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk tells the exciting and compelling tale of how the "fish boat" was invented, how it underwent trials and tribulations in war, and how it got from the bottom of the ocean to its current resting place in the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Who invented the H. L. Hunley? How did it operate without an engine? How and why did it sink? What did researchers find when they investigated the submarine? Archaeologists and conservationists from all over the world have studied the historic vessel in search of answers. Which mysteries have they solved,and which mysteries remain for future generations to answer?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611177886
Publisher:	University of South Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/15/2017
Series:	Young Palmetto Books
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,125,794
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Fran Hawk is the author of Queenie's Coin, Ten Tips for Raising Readers, and Countdown to Fall. She worked as a school librarian for ten years while writing a weekly children's book-review column for the Charleston Post & Courier. Hawk later served as a librarian at a small alternative school for at-risk children. She has a bachelor's degree in English from Randolph College and a master's of library science from Vanderbilt University. She lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, not far from where the Hunley crew lived and worked.

What People are Saying About This

Kellen Correia

With The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk updates the amazing story of the H. L. Hunley for a new generation of readers, future historians, and scientists.

Brian Hicks

In The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk paints a nuanced portrait of a complicated period in American history—a time when war and strife led to amazing invention. With style and enthusiasm, Hawk introduces folks of all ages to one of history's most tantalizing mysteries. This is a fun and educational trip beneath the waves.

Ralph Wilbanks

Fran's book is a great little 'lost and found' story of one of history's most intriguing mysteries, written for young readers. It is factual and straightforward and can lead them to continue investigating, learning, and enjoying both for a lifetime.

Walter Edgar

This is a superb rendering of the tale of the H. L. Hunley. Kudos to Fran Hawk and USC Press for producing this wonderful history for young readers. If you are looking for a book to interest a child in South Carolina history, this should be on your list.

Editorial Reviews

"Fran's book is a great little 'lost and found' story of one of history's most intriguing mysteries, written for young readers. It is factual and straightforward and can lead them to continue investigating, learning, and enjoying both for a lifetime."--Ralph Wilbanks, marine archaeologist known for discovering the H. L. Hunley


"In The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk paints a nuanced portrait of a complicated period in American history--a time when war and strife led to amazing invention. With style and enthusiasm, Hawk introduces folks of all ages to one of history's most tantalizing mysteries. This is a fun and educational trip beneath the waves."--Brian Hicks, author of Raising the Hunley


"This is a superb rendering of the tale of the H. L. Hunley. Kudos to Fran Hawk and USC Press for producing this wonderful history for young readers. If you are looking for a book to interest a child in South Carolina history, this should be on your list."--Walter Edgar, author of South Carolina: A History


"With The H. L. Hunley Submarine, Fran Hawk updates the amazing story of the H. L. Hunley for a new generation of readers, future historians, and scientists."--Kellen Correia, executive director, Friends of the Hunley

From the Publisher

2017-07-17
The story of the first attack submarine's drastically brief career and, nearly a century and a half later, rediscovery.Even though it was, as the author artlessly puts it, "well-designed and well-crafted in the American spirit of invention," the H.L. Hunley sank repeatedly in tests and never came back from its first mission in 1864. Rather than go into details about how the submarine worked (sort of), Hawk opts to extend her simply written version of its exploits with tangentially related chapters on the battle of Shiloh, the end of the Civil War, and an undocumented (she admits) legend that romantically links a gold coin found in the wreck with the sub's captain, George Dixon, and a Southern belle named Queenie Bennet. Likewise, Wyrick's uncaptioned reconstructions of battle scenes and the submarine underwater (which are not always placed near the actions they describe) don't serve quite as well as the more informative period views of the vessel and its interior that have been used to illustrate other treatments. The account switches to photos and does go into somewhat more detail when describing how the wreck was found in 1995, raised in 2000, and transported to a lab; in a final chapter, a conservator and an archaeologist describe their still-ongoing restoration work. A patchwork production, far less seaworthy than, for instance, Sally Walker's two titles on the subject. (map, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews