Built by Swiss professor, scientist, inventor and explorer Auguste Piccard. His son Jacques later worked with him on over 100 test dives, 26 of which were financed by the U.S. Navy. Trieste I and II are also considered to be bathyscaphes -- a Greek term meaning deep ships. They are able to sink into the depths of the ocean, and then rise to the surface utilizing the same scientific principles a blimp uses to rise and then return to its starting point

A first hand account by the OIC TRIESTE
Article copied from the USNA Alumni Magazine, SHIPMATE
Going the Last Seven Miles - The Bathyscaph Trieste Story
By Captain Don Walsh USN (Ret.) USNA Class of 1954

CLICK for larger view of TRIESTE II.    [ Image contributed by Frank Toon  ]

In the Interpretive Center at Old Santee Canal Park, adjacent to the Berkeley Museum, there is a 3/8 scale of a "David" with interior details. 

At the Charleston Museum, there is the replica of the Confederate submarine Horace L. Hunley. 

In the State Museum in Columbia, SC you may view another replica of the Hunley, complete with cutaway showing mechanism and crew members at work inside.

And, in the Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston (at the old Navy Base near Charleston) is the real submarine, the CS Hunley - discovered in the ocean waters off Sullivans Island, SC by Clive Cusler. 

CS David was the name of the first torpedo boat of the design identified as a "David". Not much has been written about the "Davids", which is remarkable when their importance in history is so significant. When U.S. Adm. John A. Dahlgren entered Charleston Harbor in February, 1865 he reported that there were nine "Davids" in the harbor and two in the mud of the Cooper River. No names are given for the other "Davids"; indeed, they may have been unnamed. The name "David" apparently is derived from Goliath's opponent, refering to the size of the boat. There is some discussion that it may be named for its contracting engineer, David Chenowith Ebaugh (pronounced EE-BOE), originally of Maryland. No documents of that period attest to the number or names, except for the first, David. Ebaugh wrote about his participation and claimed credit after the War.

The CS David executed the first successful torpedo attack in naval warfare, on October 5, 1863, against the USS New Ironsides, outside Charleston Harbor. The David returned to Charleston harbor; the New Ironsides was damaged but survived the attack. 

The first "David" was developed by the Confederates as a submersible, moving just under the surface of the water with its smokestack extending above. Because of its actions (and those of other similar ships), the Union Navy was forced to develop measures to defend their ships against this type of craft. As a result, only vessels further out to sea were without such defensive measures because it was felt that the submersibles could not go very far to sea. This is why the Hunley was forced to go further to sea to attack the USS Housatonic, after which the Hunley disappeared. 

Horace Hunley and his crew (who died on an earlier trial) are buried in Magnolia Cemetery at Charleston. 

The Hunley itself was raised from the depths in 2000 following location by Clive Cussler, and is in restoration at the Warren Lasch Center at the old Navy Base in North Charleston, SC. The State of South Carolina is working with other sources to continue the development of resources to provide for the restoration and display of the vessel as well as for the recovery and interment of the remains of the Confederate troops who manned the sub.

The estimated total cost of the Hunley project approaches $20,000,000.

The local newspaper, The Post and Courier, has quite an archived section on their Hunley coverage, with links to similar sites.

(Images provided by Bob Hunt)

Sources:

Text above, excerpted and adapted from Bob Hunt's Website
The HUNLEY NEWS ARCHIVES from the Charleston Post and Courier
The Official HUNLEY website
The Charleston Museum
The H.L. Hunley in Historical Context  (A USN Official History website)
by Rich Wills, former Assistant Underwater Archaeologist,
Naval Historical Center

On permanent display are the hulls of Holland-1, 1878 and Holland-2, 1881. The Holland-1 is fourteen feet, six inches in length, and weighs two and a quarter tons. It traveled at three and a half miles per hour, and could remain under water for one hour. For an excellent page on the Holland and the Fenian Ram

John Holland and his Submarines by Gary McCue

One favorite is the Turtle, designed by David Bushnell as a one-man submarine; it resembles the shells of two turtles clamped together.

Both George Washington and Benjamin Franklin encouraged Bushnell to build it in l776, but it was no match for the HMS Eagle as it tried to attack and destroy her. An interesting theory, nonetheless, that was ahead of its time.

Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was Commander-in-Chief Pacific during World War II, grew up in Fredericksburg, and this museum is housed in the restored Nimitz Hotel once owned by his grandfather. The elder Nimitz had been a member of the German merchant marine before he came to Texas in 1848 and started his successful hotel business.

His hotel was the most comfortable stop on the military road between San Antonio and San Diego. It had the frontier's first bathhouse, as well as a brewery, saloon, general store, and a ballroom. Guests included Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and Rutherford B. Hayes. Today several rooms of the hotel are furnished as they were in the 19th century, but most are given over to the Museum of the Pacific War, which tells the story of Admiral Nimitz.

He took charge of the Pacific fleet 18 days after the disaster at Pearl Harbor, reorganized the shattered U.S. forces, and was one of the architects of the strategy that brought victory over Japan. Behind the hotel is the Garden of Peach, a Japanese-style garden created with money raised by the Japanese people, whom Nimitz had treated kindly after the war.

The Pacific History Walk, a block from the hotel, takes visitors through relics of the war: a Japanese dive bomber, and the conning tower of the USS PINTADO, the submarine that sank Japan's largest merchant ship.

The museum has many features including the HA-19 which is the midget Japanese submarine captured at Pearl Harbor, a Memorial Wall, a Commemorative Plaque Program, A Veterans Walk of Honor and the George Bush Museum of the Pacific War.

Location: The museum is located in Fredericksburg, near San Antonio. To reach the site, take U.S. 10 about 80 miles northwest to Fredericksburg and follow the signs to the museum.
Admission: The adult entrance fee is $3, children are $1.50.
Restaurants: There is a restaurant in the hotel, and concessions are available. 
Shops: There is a gift shop on the premises.
Handicap Access: The museum is wheelchair accessible.
Tours: Tours of the site are available. 
Contact: Phone:(830) 997-4379 E-mail:nimitzm@ktc.com

There are currently two installations: one in Magnuson Park in Seattle; and now this recently completed one in Pelican Harbor Park in Miami on the 79th St Causeway between Miami and Miami Beach.

Both sites employ 22 fairwater planes from 1960s fast attack and ballistic subs.

These 44 fins are the very last remnants of these historic boats. The works were funded totally by private and corporate donations to our non-profit 501(c )3 corporation.

The US Navy donated the fins from PSNS in Bremerton, WA.

For images of the Seattle version you can view the website: http://faculty.washington.edu/jtyoung

John Young - Artist

This is a tale, of Submarine Lore.
We’ll begin with a brave boat, the old S-Forty Four.
What she thought was a maru, in the dark of the night.
Turned into a destroyer, who gave her a fight.

The S-Boat was courageous, she had come a long way.
Her sailors' battle surfaced, and jumped into the fray.
Out-gunned ten to one, she did all she could do.
Then God in heaven took in, that gallant submarine crew.

The Squalus and Sailfish, were one in the same.
The Sculpin was there, in the tragedies, triumphs and fame.
A pilot named Bush, was saved by the Finback.
Torpedoes were tested, by "Red" Coe and the Skipjack.

The Torsk and her crew, made a formidable pair.
She sank the last two, and did her fair share.
To this day she sits quietly, in memory of war.
So pay her a visit, if you're ever in Baltimore.

The Halibut thanked Portsmouth, for a boat strongly built.
History recalls "shots down the throat" and "shots up the kilt."
War patrols could be stressful, but every now and then.
Those clever submariners, had some "depth charge medicine."

Tigrone saved thirty-one, so they could fly another day.
In September of 45, she was moored in Tokyo Bay.
She was credited with firing, the last shots of the war.
And went on to serve, for almost 30 years more.

Names like Gilmore, Cromwell, Dealey and Street.
Have a place of great honor, within the submarine fleet.
The Seawolf, the Bowfin, the Robalo had heart.
The tenders and relief crews, all did their part.

There were other fearless boats, like the Ray and the Rasher.
The Bluefish, the Batfish, the Flier and Flasher.
We’ve heard the bell toll, for the Shark and the Amberjack.
The Grenadier, Growler, Grampus and Grayback.

In almost 4 years of war, 52 boats met their fate.
The last being Bullhead, transiting Lombok Strait.
During World War II, the "Silent Service" paid a dear cost.
And the saddest words heard, were "overdue and presumed lost."