NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina scientists plan to delicately rotate the 23-ton Civil War submarine that was the first in history to sink an enemy warship.
Scientists said Friday they plan to rotate the H.L. Hunley to an upright position early next year, exposing sections of hull that have not been examined in almost 150 years.
The work should provide final clues why the Hunley went down after sinking a Union blockade ship off Charleston in 1864.
When the Hunley sank, it was buried in the sand on its side. It was kept that way as slings were put beneath it and it was raised and brought to a conservation lab in North Charleston a decade ago.
Rotating the sub also allows scientists to finish removing the crust from the hull and proceed with conservation.
Ten years after the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley was raised off the South Carolina coast, just why it sank remains shrouded in mystery.
Scientists hold a news conference on Friday to announce a major step in the conservation of the hand-cranked sub, the first in history to sink an enemy warship.
Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the raising of the Hunley.
Thousands watched from boats and the shore in 2000 as the sub was placed on a barge and brought to a conservation lab in North Charleston.
Thousands of people again turned out in April 2004 when the Hunley's crew of eight was buried in what has been called the last Confederate funeral.
The Hunley sank in February 1864 after sinking the Union blockade ship Housatonic.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
