A Big Project for a Small Submarine: H.L. Hunley, Recovery, Conservation and Interpretation

Summary

The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley was recovered from the seafloor off Charleston, SC in 2000. The planning and preparation for the archaeology, engineering, and conservation was extensive and was accelerated over a 2 year span. This included development of innovative recovery methodology and construction of a state of the art conservation laboratory, as well as procuring 4 to 5 million dollars for a project that was heavily front-end loaded with costs. However difficult this seems, it is what comes afterwards that is most problematical. In order to complete the final conservation, analysis, and interpretation of Hunley, financial resources, dedication to the mission, and patience are required. This paper discusses how the Hunley project successfully met many of the challenges and what challenges it is still faces. It also considers what problems seem to be constant in such large scale projects.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Lessons That Count: What We Have Learned From Large, Multi-Year Underwater Excavations

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-2,05