New lighting technology is used in the excavation process of historic Civil War submarine
On February 17, 1864, the H.L. Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship. That cold, bone chilling night, eight men, led by Lt. George Dixon, sank the USS Housatonic just outside the Charleston Harbor by ramming her spar torpedo into the hull of the ship. She then surfaced long enough for her crew to signal to their comrades on the shore of Sullivan's Island with a blue magnesium lantern that their mission was successful. But minutes after her historic achievement, the Hunley and all hands on board vanished into the sea without a trace.
In 1995, author and adventurer Clive Cussler found the Hunley resting on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean buried deep within the sand and silt just outside of Charleston Harbor. Finely on August 8, 2000 and after being lost at sea for 137 years, the Hunley was recovered from the ocean's floor. It was indeed a remarkable moment in history.
In preparation of the recovery process, the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, a state of the art facility located in North Charleston, was designed. When electrical engineer Rick Borden of Davis & Floyd in Charleston, SC needed assistance with designing the lighting system for the excavation tank which now houses the Hunley, he called The Schneider Company.
David Jordan, Specification Sales Director of The Schneider Company, met with senior archeologist Maria Jacobsen to explore the use of new lighting technologies for the excavation portion of the project. According to Jacobsen, there could be no ultraviolet rays or heat emission from the task lighting system which could damage the submarine, any artifacts or any human remains. Fiber optic lighting met both of these requirements. An added benefit was that fiber optic cables contain no electricity. Also, due to the fact that the submarine is partially submerged in water, the fiber optic cables have the advantage of being submersible.
The next challenge was to determine if the light intensity would be adequate. Lighting samples were ordered and mocked-up in a full-size replica of the submarine. Jacobsen, along with Dr. Robert Neland, Branch Head of Underwater Archaeology for the Naval Historical Center and project manager and Jordan experimented with the mock-up and agreed that fiber optic lighting was the design solution they had been seeking.
The final design solution includes two metal halide fiber optic illuminators that are mounted at one end of the 50' long tank where the submarine now rests. Several fiber optic cables of varying diameters were also attached to each illuminator. Task light emits from the ends of the flexible cables.
Today, the excavation and analysis of the Hunley continues to provide many clues for archaeologists, conservators, anthropologists and historians as they seek to understand the events that led to the loss of the Hunley and her crew and events that also led to the dawn of the modern era in submarine technology. The Schneider Company is proud to be part of the "single most important underwater archeological expedition of the century."
Perhaps Michael McCarthy of the Western Australian Museum's Department of Maritime Archaeology stated it best in an interview in American Archaeology Magazine's Summer 2001 issue. He wrote, "The Hunley is raising the bar for underwater archaeology and conservation." He goes on to say, "Not only is she viewed as a significant object of history, but also a significant research and science project. This is perhaps the find of the century."
