Preserved Confederate Submarine

North Charleston, South Carolina

The Hunley was an experimental Confederate submarine, nearly 40 feet long, that in 1864 became the first sub to sink a ship (the U.S.S. Housatonic). Unfortunately, the Hunley itself sank less than an hour later, taking with it its entire crew.

The Hunley remained lost until it was rediscovered on the sea bottom in 1995, and in 2000 it was brought ashore to sit inside a 90,000-gallon preservation tank, filled with scientifically adjusted water. During the week the tank is drained to let archaeologists study the Hunley, but on weekends the tank is filled and the public is invited in for a peek. Tours include views of the sub in its multi-million-dollar bathtub, a full-size recreation of the Hunley made for a cable TV movie, facial reconstructions of the doomed crew, and the lucky gold coin carried by the captain.

For the record, the Hunley's death toll was five Yankees, 21 Confederates.