![]() Singer held the rank of army Captain as the leader of the "Singer Secret Service Corps." They were in town to install the torpedoes (what we now call mines) they had invented in Mobile Bay, devices which would later prompt Brother Farragut to issue his famous order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." Hunley was also interested in the "Fretwell-Singer torpedo" as a possible armament for the submarine. Fretwell, who would be Grand Master of Texas in 1868 and Edgar Singer, a relative of the famous sewing machine maker. In looking for more backers, they soon found two fellow Masons from Lavaca Lodge No. 40 where McClintock and Alexander were members.īuilding these iron boats required considerable financing which Horace Hunley could no longer provide as he had up to this point. Dixon was raised on May 4, 1863, in Mobile Lodge No. He also carried a gold pocket watch with a Royal Arch fob on the chain. Dixon had the heavily bent but decidedly lucky charm inscribed and kept it with him always. During the battle of Shiloh, he was struck by a minie ball that hit the cherished coin in his pocket, thus averting a more serious and possibly mortal leg wound. Before leaving for battle, his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett, had presented him a good luck token a shiny twenty dollar gold piece. Dixon, a former steam ship engineer, had a somewhat remarkable tale to tell. He was a member of the 21st Alabama Volunteer Infantry, which also provided them with the assistance of another of its young Lieutenants who was back in Mobile recovering from a recent wound to his leg. During this time, another Mason joined their team when the Army assigned British born mechanical engineer, Lieutenant William Alexander of Mobile Lodge No. After that craft was lost in rough seas, their third and final craft was built, which they called "Fish Boat," later to be christened the H. Upon relocating to Mobile, Alabama, they joined with the two owners of the Park and Lyons Machine Shop to begin work on their second submersible. When the Federal Navy under Captain David Farragut, also a Mason and later the first Admiral in the United States Navy, drew too close, they scuttled the boat in an ultimately futile attempt to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Their first design, the Pioneer, was successfully tested in the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. 40 in Alabama and Baxter Watson in designing and building a submersible boat. 59 and a wealthy attor-ney, was financing and actively assisting marine engineers and Masons, James McClintock of Mobile Lodge No. The story began in New Orleans during the first year of the civil war. With about a dozen brethren directly involved with her, at least two of whom were York Rite Ma-sons, the Hunley may rightly be called a Masonic secret weapon. ![]() A unique weapon, with strong ties to the Confederate Secret Service, the Hunley was designed, financed, built, armed, deployed, and commanded by Masons. It was a feat that would not be repeated for another fifty years. Shortly before 9:00 on the night of February 17, 1864, history was made in the waters off Charleston, South Carolina the first successful submarine attack sunk the U.S.S. The snorkel-box system, as you can imagine, just as a swimming snorkel would- was designed to bring in air when submerged,” says Scafuri.A Masonic Secret Weapon: the H. “What it tells us that there was no attempt to bring in air through this method. It seems that the Hunley’s air circulation system was not functioning or was disconnected on the night that it disappeared. Scafuri is part of the team that recently discovered an important new clue in the century old mystery. It’s important to know what they didn’t do as much as it is to know what they did do,” says Scafuri. ![]() ![]() We’re basically doing the same thing- this is one piece of it. It’s tough to solve those kinds of cases. Michael Scafuri is the lead archaeologist for the Hunley Project with over 20 years of experience in archaeological survey and excavation. The submarine and it’s artifacts are considered a “time capsule” for the Civil War era. Shortly after, the Hunley and it’s 8-man crew disappeared…only to be found 136 years later. Hunley submarine made history as the first successful combat submarine after sinking the U.S.S.
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