The HL Hunley, the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship, was raised from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean in 2000. The Civil War era hand-cranked submarine sunk the Union blockade ship Housatonic but then went down, coming to rest on the ocean floor at a 45 degree angle.
Scientists have kept the sub at that same 45 degree angle for the past eleven years while they raised and studied her. They began turning the Hunley upright on Wednesday, and the process was completed Friday. The Friends of the Hunley have posted this time lapse video of the painstaking process of turning the sub just millimeters at a time.
Raegan Quinn, with Friends of the Hunley, said, "It's a very slow process. Obviously the Hunley is irreplaceable, so you have to take your time and you have to make sure you do it right."
Scientists are now getting their first glimpse of a side of the Hunley they've never seen.
"It's fair to say we are all breathing a collective sigh of relief now that the rotation is over. The laser never strayed more than a millimeter out of its target. Aside from minor technical issues, the rotation went according to plan with the sub remaining completely safe and intact," Mike Drews, Director of Clemson University's Warren Lasch Conservation Center, said.
Kellen Correia, Executive Director of Friends of the Hunley, says in a few weeks, scientists will remove the straps and overhead truss that have held the Hunley, but not until they're sure the sub is stable.
Hunley Commission Chairman Senator Glenn McConnell said he is eager to have access to this new area of the submarine, hoping new clues may be uncovered that will provide insight into the mystery of the crew's demise.
"This is a tremendous day for the project. Not only will the public soon have an unobstructed view, we will too. We may find the crucial evidence we've been searching for in this newly exposed area," McConnell said.
The Hunley weighs seven tons and is 40-feet long. Eight crew members died when she sank. Now that the sub is upright, many are marveling at how much smaller she looks.
The Hunley was located in 1995 by Clive Cussler's National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA).
When the Hunley was lifted from the Atlantic, she was taken to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, where an international team of scientists are working to conserve the submarine and solve the mystery of why she sank.
The Hunley Project is conducted through a partnership with the Clemson University Restoration Institute, South Carolina Hunley Commission, Naval Historical Center, and Friends of the Hunley.
The Associated Press and Friends of the Hunley contributed to this report.
