HUNLEY Replica Moves To USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park

Feb 17th, 2004

Replica of Submarine HL Hunley Moving to Battleship Memorial Park

On Wednesday, December 17, 2003 the replica of the HL Hunley was moved to its new permanent home, USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park. The HL Hunley arrived at Battleship Memorial Park around 10:00 am and was quickly set up for display. The HL Hunley had been located at 355 Government Street, the Bernstein-Bush house and the former location of the Museum of Mobile since the early 1990s.

The HL Hunley was designed, built, and tested in Mobile, Alabama over a number of years, early during the Civil War. It was then transferred to Charleston Harbor, and was the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel. It sank under mysterious circumstances during the return trip back to port. It lay in Charleston Harbor until it was raised in 2000. The HL Hunley is now being restored and is located at the U.S. Naval facility in Charleston, SC.

Sometime during the late 1980’s, Mobile United commissioned an impressionistic model of the HL Hunley based on the best available data. The completed model has been on display at the Museum of Mobile since completion.

Mobile Museum Board Inc. arranged a loan to the USS ALABAMA Battleship Commission for the move. The HL Hunley’s permanent home is near the USS DRUM, a WWII veteran with 12 battle stars, sitting alongside the walkway to the DRUM in order to further illustrate submarine technology.

In exchange for this loan, the Battleship Commission will have signage directing visitors to the Museum of Mobile to further their historical knowledge of the era.

“We are absolutely delighted,” said Bill Tunnell, Executive Director of Battleship Memorial Park, “to have this magnificent replica of the Hunley displayed near the National Historic Landmark submarine USS DRUM (SS-228). It is a wonderful example to show our visitors the development of submarines in the United States. We are proud to participate with the Museum of Mobile on this great cooperative display.”

The Park and the Museum had collaborated on an earlier exchange. In 1986, the Park loaned the Museum for permanent display a model of the Hunley depicting the interior of the submarine. The model had been on display at the Park, but since Hunley was built in Mobile, Battleship officials felt the Museum would be the better place for display.

USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park was established to honor Alabamians who served in all United States military actions, Battleship Memorial Park hosts over 300,000 visitors annually, and is an internationally known major tourist attraction in Alabama. Since opening in 1965, it has been self-supporting for daily operations without using State of Alabama, or Mobile City and County tax funds.

For more info, visit http://www.ussalabama.com