For more than a century, the H.L. Hunley rested at the bottom of the ocean just outside Charleston harbor, its crew entombed, its hull gradually encased in hardening encrustations.

When it was raised 15 years ago off South Carolina, it looked more like a barnacled sea monster than the world's first combat submarine to sink an enemy warship. The Hunley sank in battle during the winter of 1864.

The remains of its eight sailors were removed in 2001, but research has continued and Thursday a conservation team announced that experts have now removed more than half a ton of the encrustations.

The result: The Hunley has much of the look and menace of a modern sub, and is clearly the ancestor of the U-boat and the nuclear submarine of today.

On the night of Feb. 17, 1864, the crude Confederate vessel - which was made from a boiler, had no extra air supply and was powered by a hand crank - rammed a torpedo into a Union warship anchored off Charleston.

The Yankee ship, the USS Housatonic, went down, but so did the 14-ton Hunley with its captain and crew.

For more information, see:
www.hunley.org
"I've got the coin." (www.clemson.edu/glimpse/?p=1147)
LT. Dixon's Gold Coin Replica (http://hunleywebstore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=FOTH&
Screen=PROD&Product_Code=3)

To read the complete articles, see:
Cleaned of encrustations, the H.L. Hunley becomes a real submarine (www.washingtonpost.com/local/cleaned-of-encrustations-the-css-hunley-becomes-a-real-submarine/2015/09/17/f1809ff4-5d46-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html)
Hull of first sub in history to sink enemy warship revealed (www.washingtonpost.com/national/hull-of-first-sub-in-history-to-sink-enemy-warship-revealed/2015/09/17/cd0bd2c4-5d6e-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
HUNLEY SUB LUCKY GOLD COIN FOUND (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v04n22a05.html)
HUNLEY CREW LAID TO REST (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v07n17a05.html) 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SINKING OF THE HUNLEY (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v17n08a14.html)