On February 17th, 153 years ago, A Momentous Piece of Charleston History Disappeared into The Atlantic Ocean

Besieged Charleston

From land, the Union forces, ominously positioned on Morris Island, fired its first shots into the beating heart of downtown Charleston from a huge siege cannon nicknamed "The Swamp Angel." The pride of South Carolina was now under heavy fire. While from sea, the Union's strangle hold on Charleston Harbor was squeezing the oxygen out of the City's economy, allowing less and less blockade runners through. The Confederate forces attempting to protect the city were desperate. Choking and besieged, Charleston turned their hopes to a curious secret submersible weapon from Mobile called the H.L. Hunley. It was February of 1864.

Cove Inlet

On the 17th of February, under the command of Lt. George Dixon, the Hunley's crew of eight made their way across the footbridge on the southern end of Sullivan's Island at Cove Inlet near Fort Moultrie. From there, they hiked 2 1/2 mile's north to Breach Inlet and awaited nightfall. It was cold and it was quiet when the appointed time arrived. The moonlight sparkled on the surface of the chilly inlet waters. Dixon and the crew boarded the cylindrical iron boiler fashioned into a submarine with a 17-foot spar carrying a 135 pound torpedo filled full of explosives mounted on its bow.

Breach Inlet

With barely enough room to accommodate themselves, the eight men poured sweat over hand cranks that powered a spinning propeller while their captain manned the dive planes steering man and iron to a location four miles off Breach Inlet in the north channel of Sullivan's Island where the Federal steam sloop-of-war USS Housatonic, a powerful new vessel, carrying eleven guns of the largest caliber, was prowling the darkened blockaded waters.

A lookout aboard the Union ship, tired, cold and restless, suddenly spotted something moving in the chilly waters. Could it be floating debris? Something about the shadowy object didn't seem right. The alarm was sounded. Shots rang out and bullets ricocheted in all directions. The low profile of the submersible in the water made it impossible to direct the ship's firepower at it. Other Union sailors joined in the frantic firing of revolvers and rifles. The object continued to approach at about three knots.

With bullets bouncing off its hull, the Hunley rammed her long metal spar into the stern area, planting the torpedo into the Housatonic. The men inside the Hunley lunged forward from the impact, then quickly backed their sub out as the 150-foot attached detonation rope played out. Within seconds, the world rocked and every man, above and below, became enveloped in a concussion of destruction.

The explosion caused the Housatonic to burn for three minutes before sending it plunging to the bottom killing five sailors. The Hunley then surfaced long enough for her crew to signal their comrades on the shore of Sullivan's Island with a blue magnesium light, indicating a successful mission. The shore crew stoked their signal fires and anxiously awaited the Hunley's return. It did not. Shortly after her historic achievement, the Hunley, along with its crew, vanished into the dark, salty waters without a trace.

I am from Northeastern Ohio, and in that part of the U.S. you are far removed from the many notable places and events of the Civil War, but here in the South, in Charleston, you are in the heart of it all. It is tightly weaved into the very fabric of Charleston's identity and for visitors it is inescapable, both by land and water. The Spiritline Cruises in Charleston Harbor shuttles people back and forth on a daily basis to the place where it all started, Fort Sumter. The guides on one of the numerous historic carriage rides seen crisscrossing the historic district are dressed in Confederate gray uniforms. You can get up close and personal by physically touching the iron mortars and cannon at Fort Moultrie or White Point Gardens that were used to bombard Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.

My first exposure to the story of the Hunley was by way of a 1999 movie and then in more detail, when I moved to Charleston. Driving down Meeting Street towards the French Quarter, you pass a replica at the entrance of the Charleston Museum.

Most likely, there are quite a few people in this country who don't know the Hunley exists or its story. For those who don't, the Hunley was the first successful combat submarine. Successful, meaning the Confederate submarine accomplished its one and only mission. It didn't successfully return to port. The Hunley disappeared under the waters off of Sullivan's Island and for 136 years its fate remained a mystery.

Buried in three feet of sediment and laying on her starboard side with the bow pointing almost directly toward Sullivan's Island, the Hunley's final resting place was discovered in 1995. It was carefully and meticulously raised in 2000, still in tack, from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There are theories as to what happened to the Hunley, but no one really knows for sure what caused its demise. Scientists have been puzzling over the remains of the Hunley since its recovery, searching for clues that will assist them with providing a feasible hypothesis.

The bow (image from Friends of the Hunley)

The stern (image from Friends of the Hunley)

You can view the Hunley and the artifacts uncovered with it at its own museum where it is displayed in a 90,000 gallon conservation tank. Museum location is the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, 1250 Supply Street (on the old Charleston Navy Base), North Charleston, South Carolina. A startling discovery was made in 2002 while researching the interior of the sub that confirmed a long held legend. For the complete story of this find and tour information go to Friends of the Hunley.

Touching A Heart With A Message In A Bottle-A True Charleston Story

Message In A Bottle is a 1999 film based on a novel bearing the same name written by Nicholas Sparks. It is about a woman who finds a mysterious, intriguing love letter in a bottle in the sand. Fascinated by the message, she comes in possession of two more, which leads her on a search for the originator of the released bottles. She finds him, befriends him, and the two of them get involved, but she is not completely honest with him, hiding the fact their meeting was not accidental, and she possesses the letters he wrote to his deceased wife he has not been able to release. The story has a powerful but sad ending.

The usage of a message in a bottle has been a form of communication going way back in antiquity. The first recorded account of messages placed in bottles dates around 310 BC. The Greek philosopher, Theophrastus, released the bottles as an experiment to prove the inflowing Atlantic Ocean formed the Mediterranean Sea.

A message in a bottle recovered east of Shetland in 2012 is believed to be the oldest message ever found at 98 years. It was one of 1,890 bottles released on June 10, 1914, by a scientist from Glasgow testing undercurrents around Scotland. The previous record was 92 years and 229 days, also released in 1914 and found on December 10, 2006. It contained longitude and latitude coordinates placing its release somewhere between Scotland and Denmark. A fisherman discovered it around Shetland, Scotland. The bottled message to travel the farthest from its point of origin ended up on a beach near Dubrovnik, Croatia, on April 17, 2013. It was tossed into the ocean 28 years earlier from the shores of Nova Scotia, Canada. It floated around 4,000 miles.

The saddest story involving a bottled message dates September 9, 1914. It was discovered in 1999 by a fisherman while pulling in his nets. Inside the eroded bottle were two letters. The first note requested the finder forward the second note, a love letter, to his beloved wife, Elizabeth Hughes. He was headed for France to fight in the Great War. Moved by the letter, the fisherman set out to deliver it. It had been 85 years since the writing of the letters. His search led him to the couple's daughter living in Auckland, New Zealand. He found out Thomas Hughes was killed in battle shortly after releasing the bottled messages. Thomas never got to see his wife again and never met his daughter, Emily.

Breach Inlet and the H.L. Hunley Bridge

I have made it a practice to release wine bottles with a message into Charleston's coastal waters from time to time. They contain lines of poetry I have written about life and dealing with its struggles, an email address included. Charleston's coastline offers a variety of places for an entry point for a bottled message. My favorite drop-in point is the outgoing tidal currents of Breach Inlet, accompanied by an off-shore breeze. I have sent out three. So far, I have received two responses. It is a unique story. Not as dramatic as the film, but it demonstrates the power a message from a bottle can have.

Isle of Palms beach

It was a month from the time I set this particular bottle afloat on the ocean currents to the time of its discovery on the Isle of Palms. So, it did not travel any great distances in that one month. It possibly floundered around off-shore until an ocean wind brought it in. A woman found the bottle while walking on the beach, something she does often to cope with a loss in her life. Following is the original email I received:

"I found your message in a bottle.....a green bottle on the shore. Where did u release it? If u don't mind me asking... I lost the love of my life 3 years ago in aug. and I walk that beach for therapy to deal with losing him. I have released a balloon there once with a message inside, and was touched by your poem...It was a cool thing to find. Take care."
Sent from my iPhone

The message

I was glad to hear the right person found the bottle and the message.

My next message ready for release

Coastal waters and tidal rivers surround Charleston. It is rich in stories associated with its long maritime history. I have not read any stories about discovered messages inside bottles in the Charleston area, but I am sure some exist. Someday you may be walking on one of the beautiful beaches of Charleston and unexpectedly see the top of a corked bottle sticking out of the sand. Upon pulling the bottle from its final resting place after its solitary journey on the ocean currents, you discover a message within. Maybe, it could be a record-breaking message in a bottle dating back hundreds of years, or it could be one of mine. If it is mine, I look forward to hearing from you.

The closest thing to a message in a bottle I know of in Charleston involves the Vendue Inn. It is a custom for people staying there to leave messages in some of the bedposts, or so I heard. I sent an email to Vendue Inn to verify the story but have not received an answer.