Tweet
[color=#000080]
The Hunley sits in the center of the drained conservation tank at the former Charleston Naval Base. More photos at the Post & Courier site - Post & Courier 7/13/03 Hunley story
Preservation team in uncharted waters
BY BRIAN HICKS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
When a group of dreamers and engineers built the H.L. Hunley in 1863, they were pushing the technology of the day beyond its limits. Now the people working to restore the world's first attack submarine are doing much the same thing.
As scientists prepare for the painstaking task of preserving the Confederate sub, they are being forced to invent new ways to gauge corrosion and preserve metal, all the while compiling handy research that could help make bridges and ships safer and keep cars from rusting as quickly.
In essence, the Hunley is fostering the science that ultimately will save it.
"In my opinion, it's a blessing the Hunley remained hidden for as long as it did," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, the chairman of the Hunley Commission. "It was ahead of its time, and it waited to resurface until technology caught up with it again."
Had the Hunley been recovered just 30 years ago, contemporary conservation techniques most likely would not have been enough to preserve it. While most officials are confident that the sub now can be restored to an amazing degree, science still hasn't caught up enough to completely tackle the complex and unique problems of restoring a 140-year-old iron submarine.
Conservators with the Hunley project and materials science experts from Clemson University are working on new ways to stabilize the submarine and cure the unforgiving effects of nature that have been eating away at the sub's hull for more than a century.
In the next few months, these scientists will prepare for a process that could last several years. Archaeologists will excavate the last remaining crevices of the sub, its ballast tanks, and project officials will decide exactly how to extract the salt and chlorine from the metal, hoping to slow natural corrosion.
The problem is complex, but the goal is simple]
Edited By TMSmalley on 1058441178
The Hunley sits in the center of the drained conservation tank at the former Charleston Naval Base. More photos at the Post & Courier site - Post & Courier 7/13/03 Hunley story
Preservation team in uncharted waters
BY BRIAN HICKS
Of The Post and Courier Staff
When a group of dreamers and engineers built the H.L. Hunley in 1863, they were pushing the technology of the day beyond its limits. Now the people working to restore the world's first attack submarine are doing much the same thing.
As scientists prepare for the painstaking task of preserving the Confederate sub, they are being forced to invent new ways to gauge corrosion and preserve metal, all the while compiling handy research that could help make bridges and ships safer and keep cars from rusting as quickly.
In essence, the Hunley is fostering the science that ultimately will save it.
"In my opinion, it's a blessing the Hunley remained hidden for as long as it did," said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, the chairman of the Hunley Commission. "It was ahead of its time, and it waited to resurface until technology caught up with it again."
Had the Hunley been recovered just 30 years ago, contemporary conservation techniques most likely would not have been enough to preserve it. While most officials are confident that the sub now can be restored to an amazing degree, science still hasn't caught up enough to completely tackle the complex and unique problems of restoring a 140-year-old iron submarine.
Conservators with the Hunley project and materials science experts from Clemson University are working on new ways to stabilize the submarine and cure the unforgiving effects of nature that have been eating away at the sub's hull for more than a century.
In the next few months, these scientists will prepare for a process that could last several years. Archaeologists will excavate the last remaining crevices of the sub, its ballast tanks, and project officials will decide exactly how to extract the salt and chlorine from the metal, hoping to slow natural corrosion.
The problem is complex, but the goal is simple]
Edited By TMSmalley on 1058441178