Shipwreck Search

Question 1

Who is Harry Pecorelli?

Answer 1

He is an an archaeologist, who discovered the missing H.L. Hunley.

Question 2

What does an archaeologist do?

Answer 2

They scientifically study people of the past and how they lived.

Question 3

How long is the H.L. Hunley compared to modern day submarines?

Answer 3

The H.L. Hunley is 40’ long, and 4’ 3” tall, compared to a modern submarine which measures the length of ten Hunley submarines.

Question 4

How did the team actually begin to raise the Hunley?

Answer 4

They set up a barge with legs resting on the seafloor. A crane on the barge lowered a set of strong metal bars around the submarine. The bars which are called trusses, surrounded the Hunley as a cage.

Question 5

What year was the Hunley raised?

Answer 5

2000

Question 6

What was the boat called?

Answer 6

The submarine is called the H.L. Hunley.

Question 7

Why was the H.L. Hunley exceptional?

Answer 7

It was an iron submarine, used in the Civil War. It was the first submarine that ever sunk a ship.

Question 8

When did the Confederate Hunley sink the USS Housatonic?

Answer 8

It sunk the Housatonic on February 17, 1864.

Question 9

Since the H.L. Hunley is made out of iron, in the 1980’s and 1990s what instrument did archeologists use to search the sea floor for iron?

Answer 9

A magnetometer, is an instrument used for locating iron.

Question 10

Who went with Harry on May 3, 1995 to locate the Hunley, and how did they find it?

Answer 10

Harry with the help of Wes Hall, and Ralph Wilbanks used a probe and searched the seafloor carefully every few feet. Finally he hit a smooth curved object with his probe, the tower of the Hunley.

Question 11

What was the name of the barge that brought up the Hunley?

Answer 11

Titan. (picture on page 20)

Question 12

How many bones and teeth did they find?

Answer 12

1600 human bones and teeth.

Question 13

Who put the clay on the skulls to make them look more real?

Answer 13

Sharon Long put the clay strips on the skulls adding cheeks, chins, and noses. Then she added hair and eyes.

Question 14

What is the powdery orange material that can form on iron, and cause it to weaken and fall apart?

Answer 14

Rust.

Question 15

When did the Civil War begin?

Answer 15

1861.

Question 16

When and where did the H.L. Hunley sink?

Answer 16

It sank in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 17, 1864.

Question 17

When and where did archeologists Harry Pecorelli, Wes Hall, and Ralph Willbanks search for the H.L. Hunley?

Answer 17

They searched for the Hunley May 1995, in Charleston, South Carolina.

Question 18

What did they do when they discovered the Hunley?

Answer 18

They buried it in sand so no one else could find and steal it. They did this while they secretly planned a complex excavation for the Hunley.

Question 19

Why was it difficult to raise the Hunley?

Answer 19

The Hunley was filled with sediment weighing 46,700 lbs. It’s surface was made out of iron templates held together by thick bolts called rivets, that were now weak. The rivets holding iron plates together would fall apart if they were lifted in this condition.

Question 20

How did they protect the Hunley, before raising it?

Answer 20

Divers put a sling on each side of the many trusses, they added bags between them, and squeezed soft foam into the bags between them. They did this for each of the 32 bags. The foam hardened into the shape of the boat, protecting it.

Question 21

After preparing the Hunley with the protected trusses around the surface of the submarine, were they able to lift it successfully?

Answer 21

Yes!

Question 22

Where did they put the Hunley when they brought it out of the ocean?

Answer 22

The excavated Hunley was put in a big tank of cold water to prevent rust, fungi or algae from destroying it.

Question 23

What is the shape of the Hunley.

Answer 23

It has a sharp front end, a sleek hull, and 2 towers with round windows in them.

Question 24

How did the archaeologists manage to get into the submarine to explore?

Answer 24

Since all of the hatches were too small for people to fit through, they had to remove an iron template to get into the submarine.

Question 25

What mechanism made the Hunley move?

Answer 25

A seven handled pole in the Hunley was cranked by seven men to make the Hunley move.

Question 26

What was peculiar about the metal name tag the archeologist discovered in the Hunley?

Answer 26

The metal tag belonged to an enemy enemy soldier.

Question 27

What was the message on Hunley’s captain, George Dixon’s lucky coin that saved his life during the battle of Shiloh?

Answer 27

Shiloh, April 6th 1862, My life preserver, G.E.D.

Question 28

How old was the youngest soldier on the submarine?

Answer 28

He was 18.

Question 29

How old was the oldest man on the submarine?

Answer 29

He was 45.

Question 30

How did the Hunley sink the Housatonic?

Answer 30

The Hunley had a pole in the front of their submarine with a torpedo on it, they rammed the torpedo into the Housatonic and backed their submarine away from the ship before it exploded the enemies’ ship.

Question 31

What job does Harry have?

Answer 31

Archaeologist

Question 32

What was the Hunley?

Answer 32

A civil war submarine

Question 33

Who was the Hunley’s captin?

Answer 33

George E. Dixon

Question 34

Who was the oldest and youngest man on the submarine?

Answer 34

the oldest was 45 and the youngest was 18

Question 35

When did the Hunley sink the USS Hausatonic?

Answer 35

1864