Sullivans Island Magazine, Summer 2016

hese are the words of Lt.

George Dixon, commanding officer

of the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate

submarine whose base of operations

was at Breach Inlet in 1864. In fact,

Dixon and his crew of seven men

slept at a boarding house in Mount

Pleasant and made the commute mostly on foot to work

each day – and then back home

afterward.

But the island’s lack of comfort was likely not the sole

reason for the men lodging elsewhere. Much of that deci-

sion may have even been about physical conditioning.

Operating their little submarine required arduous

work, and the men were required to be in top-notch

condition. They would be working long hours, turning a

crank constantly to propel their craft through several miles

of ocean currents to reach their target.

The original plan wasn’t to deploy from Sullivan’s Is-

land. After all, the Union blockade was positioned mostly

at the mouth of the harbor. But rather than penetrate the

blockade’s center and risk being picked off by Union fire,

an alternate strategy involved attacking the outermost

vessels first, where it was least expected. Plus, hiding the

AMemorable

Mission

The H.L. Hunley Submarine

Courtesy of the Confederate Memorial Literary Society Collection.

by Mary coy

“Submarine Torpedo

boat H.L. Hunley”

was painted in 1863

by conrad Wise

chapman, just a few

months before the

Hunley’s mission.

“Sullivan’s Island - A more uncomfortable place could not be found.”