I missed this in history-H.L. Hunley

Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, 2000-The USS Housatonic rests at anchor, her bow facing west by northwest toward Fort Sumter. Those on deck keep watch for a newfangled contraption that could travel underwater. The night is clear and moonlit, the seas calm. Suddenly, at 2045, Officer of the Deck John Crosby spots an anomaly in the water, "what looked to be a porpoise coming to the surface to blow."

But it is not a porpoise, it is the H. L. Hunley. Even as bullets ricochet off the hull of this iron fish, she moves forward quickly-straight for the Housatonic.

Minutes later, an explosion rocks the Housatonic, and she begins to sink fast. Men clamber over the side, into the water and into launches that have been cleared from the ship. One is sent to the nearby Canandaigua to summon assistance.

Later, Federal Seaman Robert Fleming testifies: "When the Canandaigua got astern, and was lying athwart of the Housatonic, about four ship lengths off, while I was in the fore rigging, I saw a blue light on the water just ahead of the Canandaigua, and on the starboard quarter of the Housatonic." This was the pre-arranged signal the submarine's crewmen were to give to let those on shore know she was safe.

But the Hunley never made it back to port.

http://www.hunley.org/

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One hundred thirty-six years after it forever changed the course of naval warfare, the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat returned to an enthusiastic hero's welcome on Aug. 8. Cradled in a sling especially designed for this purpose, the Confederate submarine, H.L. Hunley, rose to the surface of Charleston Harbor shortly after 8:30 a.m., amid the cheers of thousands who had gathered to celebrate this long overdue homecoming................

H.L. Hunley, which sank with its crew of nine on Feb. 17, 1864, shortly after blowing up the Union blockader, USS Housatonic, was a leader in the Civil War arms race. Called the "South's secret weapon," H. L. Hunley was built by some of the best engineers of their time, but was never commissioned, in the Confederate Navy. Named after its second captain, who perished along with his crew during sea trials, the ill-fated H. L. Hunley sank three times, killing a total of 22 young men.

But for a quirk of fate, things might have gone differently that dark night in Charleston Harbor. According to Neyland, the Union submarine, Alligator, was intended for use in Charleston, but it was lost under tow off Cape Hatteras.

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Researchers recovering artifacts from the Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley have found one of the most sought objects in the project: a bent gold coin that the captain was said to carry as a good-luck piece after it saved him from death by a bullet.

The coin turned up inside the submarine alongside the recently recovered remains of Lt. George Dixon. It was discovered amid pieces of textile that may have been part of Dixon's clothing.

"Possibly he kept it in his pants pocket," said Robert Neyland, director of the project that has been recovering and analyzing the remains of the long-submerged vessel, which was raised last year from Charleston Harbor.

The Confederate submarine sank on February 17, 1864, shortly after an attack on the Union blockader U.S.S. Housatonic. The Hunley recovery project has been supported in part by the National Geographic Society.

The newly discovered coin is bent, which is consistent with reports that it saved Dixon from the loss of a leg or even his life by deflecting a bullet directed at him on April 6, 1862, during the Battle of Shiloh.

According to accounts, Dixon's sweetheart, Queenie Bennett, had given him a 20-dollar U.S. gold piece for luck, and he kept it in his pants pocket wherever he went.

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