CSS H. L. Hunley became the first submarine to sink a warship in combat when it attacked USS Housatonic in 1864.
The Confederate submarine used a spar torpedo mounted at its bow. On the night of February 17, 1864, Hunley approached the Union sloop-of-war Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor and detonated the explosive against its hull. Housatonic sank within minutes, although most of its crew survived.
Hunley did not return from the attack. The submarine and its entire crew disappeared, and the wreck was located in 1995. Archaeologists raised the vessel in 2000, allowing detailed conservation and study.
The attack is often described as the first successful combat use of a submarine, but Hunley itself was not the first submarine ever built. Earlier craft, including David Bushnell’s Turtle, had attempted attacks without sinking an enemy warship.