Publisher's Synopsis
The CSS Hunley was the first true operational submarine to attack and sink a warship while at war. Submarines were not a new theory, DaVinci had designed one. One had been tried in the American Revolution albeit unsuccessfully. The American Civil War is touted as being the first "modern" war. This was due to many factors, most of them technological. Steam trains and ships were transporting troops to battlefields and firing naval salvos at targets. Compressed air was being used for different and unique purposes. The ability for mankind to operate under the waves was now a fact and not a Jules Verne fantasy. But like most technology, the know how to extract the maximum ability lagged far behind the invention. The men that volunteered to participate in the radical change to naval warfare were not suicidal, just inexperienced. Faith in new technologies is always dependent on proof of performance. Cynicism and skepticism are always in direct confrontation with the misunderstood or unfamiliar.
