Vol. 71, No.1 Spring 2026


30 speed. T e Union crew that was fi ring small arms at Hunley said the submarine’s torpedo exploded on


contact with the hull of Housatonic. T e Confederacy was very successful in the development of contact trigger torpedoes that we would now call fl oating mines. T ese were powder charges in containers with contact detonators bristling from their top and sides. T ey were very eff ective in harbor and river defenses. Two of the gunboats built by James Eads, the U.S.S. Cairo and the U.S.S. Baron DeKalb (U.S.S. St. Louis) were sunk by such devices on the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers near Vicksburg. I based my rendition on drawings and models of these devices as a more reasonable method for detonation of the torpedo. At the time it was thought that the blast would push Hunley back or that the blast force would move around the hull as would water. T e dynamics of such a blast force was not understood, and the entire crew was instantly killed. Smithsonian magazine for March 2020 has a very good article on this by Rachel Lance, adapted from her book In the Waves. T e torpedoes were turned from hardwood dowels with bands and reinforcing rings incorporated into their design. Eyed collars were soldered to 1/8-inch brass rods that were drilled to attach to the torpedoes with nails.


117. T e fi nal look when mounted to the spar that was in a socket on the lower bow. A supporting spar was mounted on the top of the bow. Brass sockets and collars with soldered eyes provided support rigging points.


116. T e triggers, on a penny for scale, were made from pieces of two sizes of tubes and some wire, at right edge of the photograph. T ey were long and fi tted into stepped holes to provide more glue surface to hold them in place. T in brass strips were soldered around and crimped between the rods and the torpedoes for a snug fi t. Holes were drilled through the front bands for stabilizing eyes to be soldered in place. T ree stepped holes were drilled in the front top of each torpedo for the three triggers.


118. All torpedoes and spars were airbrushed fl at black and later given the same wash and dry brushed treatment as the submarines.


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