Hunley uncovered: With truss removed, scientists, visitors will get closest look yet at the Civil War sub

Scientists are pretty sure the Hunley isn't shrinking, but it sure looks smaller today.

If that's possible.

On Thursday, engineers with Parker Rigging hoisted the Civil-War-era submarine's lift truss out of its holding tank at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, offering an unobstructed view of the Hunley for the first time. Well, for the first time in nearly 150 years.

With the 17,000-pound steel superstructure not encasing the sub, scientists hope to begin exploring every square inch of its hull for clues as to why the Hunley sank in 1864. The privateer disappeared on Feb. 17, 1864, just after sinking the USS Housatonic, the first time a submarine sank an enemy ship.

"They have been looking at the sub in the shadow of that truss," said Paul Mardikian, senior conservator on the Hunley project. "Now we are looking at it as it was meant to be looked at."

The truss was the last obstacle to actually beginning the conservation process for the 148-year-old iron sub. Michael Drews, the Clemson project director, said it will take about six months to refit the Hunley's holding tank to accommodate the caustic chemicals that will be used to leech more than a century of salt out of the iron.

"We had to do this to be able to do that," Drews said. "The truss served its purpose and did what it was designed to do."

The truss was set over the top of the Hunley in 2000. Divers ran a series of straps from one side of it, under the sub, and connected them to the other side. With the sub cradled beneath the truss, it was lifted out of the Atlantic Ocean about four miles off Sullivan's Island.

The sub stayed in those slings until last summer, when it was rotated into an upright position and sat down on a series of supports that also serve as load cells to measure its weight. The truss was kept in place until scientists were sure the new setup was stable.

Removing the truss is going to give the public a much clearer view of the sub on weekend tours, but the real purpose is setting in motion the endgame in preserving the submarine.

Once the tank is refitted for the Hunley's chemical bath, the sub will soak for between one and three months, Drews said, before scientists begin the arduous task of chipping away at the hardened shell of sand that currently encases the hull.

That work could take up to a year, but may clear up the last lingering mysteries of the Hunley.

"We will be able to see details now covered by that concretion," Mardikian said. "I'm confident this is going to be a major step in finding out what happened to the sub."

Reach Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or follow him on Twitter at@BriHicks_PandC.