‹ Back to Columns

Metalcaster Uncovers Answer to Submarine Damage on TV Show

While the sky may be the limit for most metalcasting facilities, Clarksville Foundry’s abilities stretch all the way to the ocean floor.

Clarksville Foundry, Clarksville, Tenn., cast a replica component of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunly, the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship. H.L. Hunley had sunk twice, both times being raised and returned to use. Soon after sinking the USS Housatonic in 1864 on Charleston, S.C.’s, outer harbor, the submarine sunk again and wasn’t raised from the wreckage until August 2000.

After a metallurgical analysis of the chemical properties of the iron used in the Civil War period, Clarksville Foundry cast the component. National Geographic Channel will reveal the results of what caused the damage on the submarine on Sept. 15 at 9 p.m., ET/PT in “Secret Weapon of the Confederacy.”