Product Description

Many people have heard of the Hunley, the experimental Confederate submarine that sank the USS Housatonic in a daring nighttime operation. Less well known, however, is that the Hunley was not alone under the waters of America during the Civil War. Both the Union and Confederacy built a wide and incredible array of vessels that could maneuver underwater, and many were put to use patrolling enemy waters. In Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, Mark Ragan, who spent years mining factory records and log books, brings this little-known history to the surface.

The hardcover edition, Union and Confederate Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, was published to wide acclaim in 1999. For this new paperback edition, Ragan has revised and updated the text to include the full story of the Hunley's recovery and restoration.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #365220 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05
• Released on: 2003-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"There is no better guide to the fascinating history of submarine technology that evolved during the Civil War." -- Clive Cussler

About the Author
Mark K. Ragan is the author of The Hunley: Submarines, Sacrifice, and Success in the Civil War and was a consultant on the TNT movie "Hunley." He owns and operates a two-man submarine and lives and works in Maryland.

Customer Reviews

The Infernal Machines of the Civil War
As other reviewers have already noted, this is a fantastic book.
The author has fully researched the subject and presents details of many little known facts from the first Confederate submarines which attempted unsuccessful underwater attacks to the first Union submarine that had been intended to sink the ironclad Merrimac (Virginia). The book goes far beyond the history of the Hunley and certainly is a must for anyone interested in the Civil War or the history of the development of submarines. Highly recommended.

Great book!
I'm only about halfway through this book, but so far I love it! I've been reading it in preparation for writing a paper about Civil War submarines, and it's an incredibly interesting and fact-filled book. I first heard about the Hunley a couple months ago, and in reading this book, I've learned that many other submarines existed during the Civil War--on both sides! If you are interested in Naval history, Civil War history, or just history in general, I highly recommend this book!

Well covered subject
This is an excellent look at all of the evidence available
of all attempts by both North and South to create the first
viable submarines.It's well written and carefully notes when the
writer's words are hypotheses rather than fact. Unfortunately for the overall story, many documents were lost when the Union
burned Richmond to the ground. Many were also destroyed because submarines fell under the cloak of secrecy and many records
were lost in the attempt to avoid postwar guilt, should such machines be considered "unfair" war devices. A very fine coverage of a little known area of the War Between the States..