How The Crew of the H.L. Hunley Died

[Penner]

Lance’s conclusion is that all crew members died instantly from the tremendous force of the explosion. The ensuing shockwave travelled through the soft tissues of seamen’s bodies, especially their lungs and brains.

Normally, a shockwave of this strength would travel at a rate of 340 meters per second (m/s) through the open air, but underwater it accelerates to 1,500 m/s. By the time this shockwave hit the sub and penetrated the crewmen’s skin (the distance to the explosion varied for each crew member, ranging from 18 to 42 feet depending on where they were positioned in the sub), it slowed down to 30 m/s, which was still enough to cause catastrophic physical damage. Each seaman was subjected to about 60 milliseconds of shockwave trauma, as compared to about 10 milliseconds had the men been exposed above water. Lance assesses the probably of this happening to each crew member at about 85 percent.

http://gizmodo.com/the-surprising-way-a ... 1798350401

[C-Mag]

That would suck

[C-Mag]

Cool Replica in Charleston

[Ex-California]

The Civil War will always be so interesting because of the foreshadowing of WWI in so many aspects

[Penner]

That would suck

Basically, they died from the shockwave and might have been unconscious and/or in a lot of pain (if they were left conscious). Either way, it seems that they now believe that the shockwave killed them. Which is a real thing since shockwaves can do internal damage (and sometimes some serious shit as well)- then again I am not a medical doctor or anything?

[Penner]

Picture of what the x-ray looked like (with each skeleton being in different color) when they first found the Hunley: