Heather G. Brown
H. L. Hunley in Conservation Tank
Top down view of the submarine H. L. Hunley in the drained conservation tank at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center of the Clemson University Restoration Institute, with visiting NHHC conservator Kate Morrand examining the concreted surface.
Feb. 17 marks the 162nd anniversary of the first successful combat mission by a submarine. That submarine was the H.L. Hunley, and its victim was the USS Housatonic, one of the ships forming the Union blockade of Charleston. Despite the successful sinking of the Union vessel, the Hunley was lost and unheard from until it was located in 1995 and raised from the seafloor in 2000. Why was the Hunley lost? What was the fate of the eight brave men who made up her crew?
Many of those questions will be addressed on Feb. 19, when the Battery Gadsden Cultural Center welcomes Warren Lasch as its February speaker. Anyone who has visited the Hunley Confederate submarine in its current home on the former Navy base in North Charleston is familiar with the Lasch name. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship during combat now rests in a conservation tank at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, an honor bestowed in recognition of Lasch’s extensive efforts in raising and preserving this unique vessel.
Titled The Final Silence: A Forensic Reconstruction of the H.L. Hunley’s Loss, the presentation will go beyond the well-known story of the submarine’s history, discovery, and salvage. Instead, Lasch offers this insight into the talk: “Every Hunley talk you’ve ever heard ends with the torpedo blast. Tonight, that’s where we start.”
The program will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at Sunrise Presbyterian Church, located at 3222 Middle St. on Sullivan’s Island. Artifacts from the Hunley will be on display, and attendees will have the opportunity to purchase The Sea of Darkness, a book by Brian Hicks.
Lasch, a nationally recognized leader and innovator in the field of logistics, spearheaded the Hunley project, providing critical leadership in securing funding, overseeing recovery operations, and implementing conservation efforts for the historic maritime artifact. Under his guidance, the organization successfully recovered and restored the H.L. Hunley. During his nine-year tenure, the project earned recognition as a world-class maritime recovery effort. Lasch has been awarded the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina’s highest civilian honor.
As always, the Battery Gadsden Speaker Series is free and open to the public.
A note from the speaker: The conclusions presented are entirely Lasch’s own and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or sanctioned by Clemson University, the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, the Friends of the Hunley, the Naval Base Museum Authority, or the South Carolina Hunley Commission.