Museum created where history's first sub to sink warship being restored

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -
By The Associated Press

A museum has been created at the lab where the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship is being conserved.

The hand-cranked Confederate submarine H.L.Hunley, which sank a Union blockade ship in 1864, was raised off the South Carolina coast 15 years ago. Since then a hodge-podge of artifacts and exhibits were displayed in a room at the lab.

Friends of the Hunley Executive Director Kellen Correia says the conservation is expected to take another five years, so the group put together the museum.

It uses interactive exhibits, videos and other exhibits to provide a clearer view of the Hunley - how and why it was built, details about its mission and the process of excavating and conserving the sub in the years since it was raised.