Text of plaque:
Born: Sumner County, Tennessee 1828
(see notes below concerning 1828 date)
Died: Charleston, South Carolina, 1863
Horace Lawson Hunley gave his life for the Confederacy while captain of the submarine which is known by his name. He was associated with submarine designer James R. McClintock and Baxter Watson in the construction of submarines for the Confederacy which he financed. Their first submarine, the Pioneer, built at New Orleans was scuttled to avoid capture. Moving to Mobile, they built two more submarines. One sank on trials in Mobile Bay, but their third, the American Diver, was tested successfully and then transported to Charleston for use against the Federal blockade ships. On October 15, 1863, the submarine, under Hunley's command, failed to surface from a training dive. Raised again, it became known as the Hunley. On February 17, 1884, commanded by George Dixon, C.S.N., the Hunley sank the Union warship Housatonic off Charleston, South Carolina, and became the first submarine in history to sink a ship under combat conditions.
Erected at the Submarine Library by
the United Daughters of the Confederacy
1960
Information from Naval Historical Center:
Horace Lawson Hunley (1823-1863)
Plaque in his honor, erected at the Submarine Library, Groton, Connecticut, by
the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1960.
He was one of the designers of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley
(1863-1864) and lost his life in her on 15 October 1863.
The 1828 birth date given on the plaque is incorrect.
Courtesy of the Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.