Another option besides the MikroMir kit.
Wasn’t the wreck of the Alligator found not too long ago?
I will have to research it and find out.
Did a little digging and it’s not the Alligator, but one from the same time period.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wreck-of-the-sub-marine-explorer
Interesting all the same.
Indeed they did (the CSA to be technically correct) it did sink a ship, but failed to return for reasons that were still being investigated the last time I looked. Actually the Continental Navy (such as it was) had a working sub in the Revolutionary War. It was a one man boat called the Turtle and attempted an attack on a British ship, I don’t think the attack succeeded, but I believe the sub crewman did return unharmed. There is a life sized replica of it at the Naval Submarine Museum in Groton CT.
Both a page on the National Museum of the US Navy website and the Wikipedia page on the USS Alligator mention a 2005 expedition to find the wreck of the boat where she had sunk off Cape Hatteras after being cut loose from USS Sumpter in bad weather on April 2, 1863, but no results of the expedition, nor any subsequent information on exploration in that regard. The search is complicated by a discrepancy between the Sumpter’s recorded position when she cut the Alligator loose and the records of the water temperature she took – her recorded position would put her inside the Gulf Stream, but the water temperature data she recorded was too low for her position to be correct, so searches have been focused more inshore of her recorded position.
Found this one in the used book shop inside the local public library branch.
The H. L. Hunley
The Secret Hope Of The Confederacy
Tom Chaffin
There is said to be 1,000 -5,000 shipwrecks off Cape Hatteras.
An interesting interactive map.
The Turtle! That’s right, forgot about it. Like a big roundish cask and a gigantic wood screw to do all the damage. I’ve seen drawings of it. I did not know they had a replica up in Groton.
I knew the Confederates had the Hunley but I did not know the US Navy had one, the Alligator.
Cannot remember the official name of it but up around Virginia Beach is the Maritime Museum. I don’t remember Revolutionary War or Civil War submarines, but they do have the Monitor there. Parts of it. Very interesting how they have it displayed and they have a life-size partial replica of the Merrimack. They also have lots of 148 scale ship models. Overall it’s a really cool place.
There was a nice build on the site a few years ago.
The museum is called Mariners’ Museum and Park. I agree, worth the visit.
Just want to insure nobody runs off to the Groton Sub museum, it’s closed until mid April for maintenance. But, I just discovered there is another full size replica of the Turtle at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex CT, I don’t know their hours. A bit of trivia, the USS Housatonic, the Federal ship sunk by the Hunley, was named after a river here in Connecticut…seems our little state has a lot of history with subs.
Picked up Tamiya’s 1/700 USS Cushing for a good price on eBay. Second hand but all still sealed. Have wanted a later Fletcher for a while. The dazzle cammo will be challenging I think.
Have wanted a decent kit of the Indianapolis for a long time and finally got Tamiya’s in the post today.
I think like a lot of people, I first heard the story in Jaws. It’s still a powerful bit of film.
A few years ago we saw stage play ‘The Shark is Broken’ which starred Shaws son. At the close he did the monologue, word for word perfect. Somehow even more bone chilling.
A lot of great talent went into that monologue, and each of the contributors seemed to remember the events differently. The original script was doctored by Howard Sackler (a Pulitzer winner) but Spielberg said he wanted something more impactful and asked John Milius to write it. Milius says he dictated it over the phone to Spielberg, who set it down on about eight pages. Shaw went over it and trimmed it to around a five page length, which was what was filmed…
M
Yes. That was one of the plot points in the play, struggling to rewrite the monologue. Along with his bickering with Dreyfus (threw Shaw’s bottle of scotch overboard ha ha) and Scheider trying to keep the peace.
It’s perfect. There’s a lot of factual truths, a little bit of embellishing and bitterness. For those few minutes you really do believe he survived it.
Had another floaty thing land this afternoon from Japan. This one looks really unusual and cool!
Spotted it on PlazaJapan a couple of weeks ago and as they had it a reduced price, thought why not. Has a hold full of midget subs. Might see if I can leave the upper deck loose to enable you to see them.








