Mitchell and I got a special treat seeing the Civil War-era submarine HL Hunley during our trip to Charleston for the 447th BG reunion in 2013.
On February 17th, 1864, the H. L. Hunley became the first successful combat submarine in world history with the sinking of the USS Housatonic. After completing her mission, she mysteriously vanished and remained lost at sea for over a century. It was found in 1995, recovered in 2000 and is being carefully conserved in Charleston.
While planning our trip, we discovered that the outer general museum is open to the public, but the actual conservation tank is only accessible on certain days so we made sure we could see the submarine itself. Definitely worth the extra effort.