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USS Housatonic 1862 - 1864

Sgt_Bill

Sgt_Bill

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Location
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USS Housatonic an American Armed Sloop that fought in the Civil war. In 1862 USS Housatonic was assigned to the US blockade of Charleston. In 1864 it was sunk off the harbor sand bar by the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley. This model resides at the North Charleston Hunley Museum. The Hunley museum has the preserved relic of the Hunley.

The model is scratch built to 3/16 = 1’ (1:64), 56” long.
Plank on bulkhead construction.
4 years to complete.
The model followed drawings of the Ossipee and Juniata from NARA. Housatonc was one of 4 identical sister ships. (Juniata, Ossipee and Adirondak). The ships took 90 days to build.
You’ll see a steam launch which was probably not contemporary to the Civil War era. I put much time into it so I couldn’t convince myself to take it off.

Displayed on line is another model of the Housatonic. I could never find out where it was displayed. That model had included a model of the Hunley that inspired me to also include a model of the Hunley. It’s a nice contrast their size.

I constructed the Hunley using a design from a resin model. I scanned, 3d printed, resized the parts from the kit. I assembled and added my own details to complete a 1:64 model. Ah, technology.

OK See the photos:
20220124_084256.jpg20220123_084852.jpg20210918_095621.jpg20210918_095636.jpg20210918_095651.jpg20210102_161001.jpg20210918_095856.jpg2022-09-18.jpg
 
Snowy said:
Awesome ,great history
Cheers snowy
Click to expand...
some more info if you are interested - every link is a different link to the history of these ships / vessels

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Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 20 November 1845 – Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado. The naval Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the waters of the Paraná River on 20 November 1845, between the Argentine...
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Sgt_Bill said:
USS Housatonic an American Armed Sloop that fought in the Civil war. In 1862 USS Housatonic was assigned to the US blockade of Charleston. In 1864 it was sunk off the harbor sand bar by the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley. This model resides at the North Charleston Hunley Museum. The Hunley museum has the preserved relic of the Hunley.

The model is scratch built to 3/16 = 1’ (1:64), 56” long.
Plank on bulkhead construction.
4 years to complete.
The model followed drawings of the Ossipee and Juniata from NARA. Housatonc was one of 4 identical sister ships. (Juniata, Ossipee and Adirondak). The ships took 90 days to build.
You’ll see a steam launch which was probably not contemporary to the Civil War era. I put much time into it so I couldn’t convince myself to take it off.

Displayed on line is another model of the Housatonic. I could never find out where it was displayed. That model had included a model of the Hunley that inspired me to also include a model of the Hunley. It’s a nice contrast their size.

I constructed the Hunley using a design from a resin model. I scanned, 3d printed, resized the parts from the kit. I assembled and added my own details to complete a 1:64 model. Ah, technology.

OK See the photos:
View attachment 423518View attachment 423519View attachment 423520View attachment 423521View attachment 423522View attachment 423524View attachment 423525View attachment 423526
Click to expand...
Fantastic model. I'm lookin into the "lucky shot" theory as the cause for the Hunley's sinking. My interest was inspired by the book "In The Waves" by Dr. Rachel Lance. I want to create 3D digital model of the Housatonic and Hunley at the time of the attack to examine shot trajectories from various locations on the Housatonic to the Hunley. This site has a lot of information on the Hunley (https://www.vernianera.com/Hunley/), but I couldn't find much on the Housatonic until I ran across your post here. You stated that you have drawings of the Ossipee and Juniata. Would you be willing to share them or tell me where I can get them from?
 
WingedHussar said:
Fantastic model. I'm lookin into the "lucky shot" theory as the cause for the Hunley's sinking. My interest was inspired by the book "In The Waves" by Dr. Rachel Lance. I want to create 3D digital model of the Housatonic and Hunley at the time of the attack to examine shot trajectories from various locations on the Housatonic to the Hunley. This site has a lot of information on the Hunley (https://www.vernianera.com/Hunley/), but I couldn't find much on the Housatonic until I ran across your post here. You stated that you have drawings of the Ossipee and Juniata. Would you be willing to share them or tell me where I can get them from?
Click to expand...
Hello, There isn't much on the Housatonic. There's a little on line like weaponry and basic dims. Information said that there were 4 ships built to the same specifications. "Aderondak, Ossipee, Juniata and Housatonic" The model is built off the drawings of the Ossipee & Juniata. I got those from NARA 10 years ago. I also went to the Charleston historical archives for some info. C.P Coker research was helpful. I will have to see if I still have those drawings.
The Hunley Museum folks are not keen on the on the "lucky shot" theory. They would tell you that the explosion concussed the crew and then ran out of air. They would point to the fact that the crew died in place with no evidence of escape or panic activities.
For years the Housatonic debris was dredged and scraped from the shipping lane. When they found the Hunley it was part of that debris.
Stand By.
 
Sgt_Bill said:
Hello, There isn't much on the Housatonic. There's a little on line like weaponry and basic dims. Information said that there were 4 ships built to the same specifications. "Aderondak, Ossipee, Juniata and Housatonic" The model is built off the drawings of the Ossipee & Juniata. I got those from NARA 10 years ago. I also went to the Charleston historical archives for some info. C.P Coker research was helpful. I will have to see if I still have those drawings.
The Hunley Museum folks are not keen on the on the "lucky shot" theory. They would tell you that the explosion concussed the crew and then ran out of air. They would point to the fact that the crew died in place with no evidence of escape or panic activities.
For years the Housatonic debris was dredged and scraped from the shipping lane. When they found the Hunley it was part of that debris.
Stand By.
Click to expand...
https://www.hunley.org/ is terrible. They state that they did ballistics tests in 2010 but have not published any results. I emailed them several times and received no reply.

I highly recommend Dr. Rachel Lance's book "In The Waves". This book was the result of her doctoral thesis. She tried to information from the Hunley Museum, but would have required her to sign an NDA, which meant her thesis could never get published.

Dr. Lance did her own ballistic testing. I attached her report. I also attached her analysis of what she believed killed the crew, air blast trauma. The Hunley Museum refuses to accept her conclusions. However, The American Battlefield Trust website does. The crew didn't die from lack of oxygen. They would have died from Carbon dioxide (CO2) poisoning first. Think of the Apollo 13 movie. Apparently, people don't just sit still when they experiencing CO2 poisoning.

Back to my original request. I want to look at the "lucky shot" theory from the perspective of geometry. The hole in the conning tower is on the port side. The Hunley attacked the starboard side of the Housatonic at a 90-degree angle at about the mizzenmast. Therefore, gunfire would have had to come from aft of the mizzenmast. So what I really need is the distance from the mizzenmast to the aft of the bridge deck and the height of the bridge deck above the waterline.
 

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