(AP) -- NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Scientists say the spar from the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley may hold an important clue as to why the sub sank off Charleston during the Civil War.
Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell and scientists discuss their news Monday at a North Charleston lab where the hand-cranked sub is being preserved.
The Hunley is the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship. The spar was the large pole at the front of the sub used to put a powder charge into the Union blockade ship Housatonic in 1864.
The Housatonic sank, while the Hunley and its eight-man crew never returned. The sub was found off the South Carolina coast in 1995 and raised five years later. It's been at the lab since then.
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