#hunley

H.L. hunley submarine

Ornate gold pocket watch recovered on May 30, 2002 during the excavation of the H. L. Hunley, the world’s first successful combat submarine lost at sea during the Civil War after destroying the USS Housatonic on February 17, 1864.

The watch, which belonged to the Confederate Hunley commander Lt. George Dixon, is a standard Liverpool English fusee watch with a lever escapement, gold chain and marine fob.

During the Civil War, the Confederate States kept Local Apparent Solar Time as its standard, while United States naval vessels maintained the Local Mean Solar Time of Washington D.C. When scientists reconciled the two methods, they came to the conclusion that Dixon’s watch – which was still partially wound – stopped ticking, the time of the attack. This suggests the Confederate, hand-cranked sub flooded and sank immediately after engagement. Photos show the watch as found and restored.

I may be obsessed with my HL Hunley gijinka….