Abstract
The American Civil War shipwrecks H. L. Hunley and USS Housatonic have been the focus of intensive archaeological investigations since the discovery of Hunley in 1995. H. L. Hunley, the world's first successful combat submarine, sank the Union blockader USS Housatonic in 1864, but sank immediately afterwards. In work done prior to the recovery of Hunley in 2000, site‐formation processes for both vessels were a primary research focus—a necessary precursor to identifying battlefield behaviour. This paper presents research on the Hunley/Housatonic Naval Engagement Site, where both wrecks are treated as complementary components of a single battlefield site.
© 2006 The Authors
Acknowledgements
The 1996 Hunley assessment was directed by Daniel J. Lenihan (NPS) and Christopher F. Amer (SCIAA); Larry E. Murphy (NPS) was field director. The 1999 Housatonic assessment was directed by Robert S. Neyland (NHC) and Christopher F. Amer (SCIAA); David L. Conlin (NPS) was field director. Research on Hunley and Housatonic has been generously supported by the Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Fund and Friends of the Hunley. Research drew on many organizations and both authors apologize to those left out here. For updates on the remarkable work that is ongoing on Hunley go to http://www.hunley.org. All errors of fact or reasoning are the sole responsibility of the authors.