Find A Grave - The Hunley Submarine Crew

Beard, Smn. Henry d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Confederate Sailor. He was a seaman of the submarine "H.L. Hunley" on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Becker, Smn. Arnold d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Figure, Crewmember of the HL Hunley submarine. It is believed that, when the War began, Seaman Becker may have been working on a riverboat, on the Mississippi River, purchased by the Confederate government. The riverboat was re-fitted for battle and re-named the CSS General Polk. That seems to be a likely port of entry for Becker into that conflict. On October 19, 1861, Becker joined the Confederate States Navy. He was then assigned to the CSS Chicora, a gunboat in attacks against...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Brookbank, Smn. Robert d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Cane, Smn. Michael d. August 29, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman on the submarine H.L. Hunley. The first crew of the Hunley met their fate on August 29, 1863 at Fort Johnson. The Hunley sank when the wake of a passing ship flooded the sub's open hatches, allowing only four of the crewmembers to escape, while five men perished. The five men were quietly buried at a mariner's graveyard off the bank of the Ashley River. The graveyard had been Charleston's mariners' cemetery during the war. The site was mistakenly covered over when...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Collins, Smn. Frank G. b. 1837 d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Confederate Sailor. As a Seaman, he was one of 8 members of the "H.L. Hunley", the Confederate submarine that was the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship. On February 17, 1864, the crewmen of the Hunley successfully sank the Union warship "USS Housatonic", but were never heard from after that. The 8 men were buried in Magnolia Cemetery on April 17, 2004 after the "Hunley" was raised. It is still uncertain why the Hunley sank. Collins was from Virginia. (Bio by: Heather from VA)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Davis, Smn. Nicholas d. August 29, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman on the famed submarine H.L. Hunley. The first crew of the Hunley met their fate on August 29, 1863 at Fort Johnson. The Hunley sank when the wake of a passing ship flooded the sub's open hatches, allowing only four of the crewmembers to escape, while five men perished. The five men were quietly buried at a mariner's graveyard off the bank of the Ashley River. The graveyard had been Charleston's mariners' cemetery during the war. The site was mistakenly covered over when...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Dixon, George E. d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Confederate Army Officer. He was commander of the last crew of the Confederate submarine, "HL Hunley", when it sank 4 miles off the coast of Sullivans Island (Charleston), South Carolina, on February 17, 1864, after sinking the USS Housatonic. A native of Kentucky, he joined Company E of the 21st Alabama Volunteers. He soon met Miss Queenie Bennet of Mobile, Alabama, and proposed. They agreed to marry after the war. Queenie gifted the Lt. with a $20 gold piece which he carried...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Cause of death: Casualty of war
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Hunley, Horace Lawson b. December 29, 1823 d. October 15, 1863
Southern Planter, Lawyer, Legislator, Merchant, Submarine Pioneer, Promoter, Patriot. Horace Lawson Hunley was born in Sumner, Tennessee on Dec. 29, 1823. Hunley would eventually walk many paths in his life: Deputy Collector of Customs in New Orleans, State Legislator for the state of Louisiana, lawyer, merchant, a successful Southern planter and most notably, submarine innovator and financier. In the early months of the Civil War, Hunley, as a keen businessman, realized the importance of...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Lumpkin, Smn. C. d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Figure. Crewman of the HL Hunley submarine. Only his last name is actually known. Some have speculated that this crewmember may have been named Simpkins, but forensic genealogists say his name was most likely Lumpkin (Lumkin). A recently discovered Confederate States Navy Pay Roster from October 1863 lists C. Lumpkins. Also, there is a handwritten note by William Alexander, one of the Hunley’s builders, that states a Lumpkin worked onboard the submarine. Seaman Lumpkin was probably in...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Marshall, Smn. John d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
McHugh, Smn. Charles d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Miller, Smn. Augustus d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Figure, Crewman of the HL Hunley submarine. Seaman Miller may be the most elusive member of the HL Hunley. Only a few sketchy details are known. Miller stood 5'8" tall, above average for a man of the 19th century, yet he was one the smaller members of the crew. He was from Europe and had been in America for a relatively short period of time before he volunteered as a crewman for the Hunley. One of the two oldest crewmembers, Miller’s age at the time of his death has been estimated at...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Parks, Thomas W. d. October 15, 1863
Builder of the H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy war ship. Thomas W. Parks owned the Parks and Lyons Machine Shop, Mobile, Alabama. This shop is where the sub was designed and constructed. On October 15, 1863, during a test run, Parks died along with his crewmates when the H.L. Hunley was accidentally trapped on the bottom of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. (Bio by: Stonewall)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Plot: Hunley Plot
Patterson, Smn. Joseph d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Ridgaway, Smn. Joseph F. b. 1833 d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Figure, Crewman of the HL Hunley submarine. Joseph Ridgaway was second-in-command the night the HL Hunley was lost. Born in late 1833 to James and Elizabeth Ridgaway, Joseph was from Talbot County, Maryland. He was just 16 when he earned his Seaman’s Protection Certificate, rating him as an experienced seaman. On August 29, 1862, Ridgaway joined the Confederate States Navy in Richmond, Virginia. Initially, Ridgaway’s only duty on the Hunley was to operate one of the cranks that...[Read More] (Bio by: Heather from VA)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Sprague, Smn. Charles L. d. October 15, 1863
Civil War Figure. Seaman of the submarine H.L. Hunley on it's second attempt to attack the Union Blockade. Horace Hunley convinced the Confederate Navy to man the sub with a crew from Mobile who were familiar with the Hunley's operations. Hunley went straight to Mobile and to where the submarine was built, Parks and Lyons Machine Shop. He enlisted a new crew to man the vessel. Thomas Parks was the shop's co-owners' son but it is believed the other crewmen, also thought to be from Mobile...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA
Wicks, Smn. James A. d. February 17, 1864
Civil War Figure, Crewman of the HL Hunley submarine. Thanks to information available from his family as well as Union records, we know a good deal about Wicks. It is known that he was born in North Carolina around 1819, one of only three members of the Hunley crew born in the South. Seaman Wicks grew up to be a robust young man, standing nearly 5'10" tall and was a heavy tobacco user. In 1850, in his early 30’s, Wicks joined the United States Navy and for over a decade served first as a Seaman...[Read More] (Bio by: ¥ankêêBelle)
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA

17 records found