Pictured for the first time in 150 years...

the Confederate Submarine H.L. Hunley was unveiled yesterday.  The Hunley is the first submarine in history to sink another ship and then minutes later itself sank.  The reason why remains a mystery to this day.  The Hunley was raised in 2004 and the Confederate sailors were buried in what was called the last Civil War Burial.

The world got an unobstructed view of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley for the first time since the Civil War on Thursday as a massive steel truss that had surrounded the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship was finally removed.The truss weighing more than 8 tons had shrouded the sub since it was raised off the coast of South Carolina almost a dozen years ago.During the recovery, slings were snaked underneath the sub and attached to the truss. A crane lifted the truss and the hand-cranked Hunley onto a barge and then brought the sub to a conservation lab in North Charleston where it has been undergoing preservation ever since.  The next step in the process of conserving the Hunley is modifying its conservation tank so chemicals can be used to dissolve the salt and encrustation on the hull. Mardikian says that should happen in about six months and then, after three months in the chemical bath, scientists will again drain the tank and begin using hand tools to remove the deposits.
'This is what's going to be the final step in understanding what happened to the submarine. Finally, we're going to be able to look at the skin,' he said.  The sub and its crew of eight were lost after it rammed a spar with a black powder charge into the federal blockade ship Housatonic.
There are theories the sub could have been damaged by fire from the Housatonic or the crew was knocked out from the concussion from the blast. Another theory is the sub was struck by another Union vessel coming to help the Housatonic.The remains of the crew, who were buried in 2004 in what was called the last Confederate funeral, were found at their stations and there seemed no rush to the escape hatch.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085991/Pictured-time-Civil-War-Confederate-submarine-finally-revealed-buried-sea-150-years.html#ixzz1jImYr7lu