Bayou St. John Submarine

The subject of a case of mistaken identity for over 120 years, the Bayou St. John Submarine is a naval artifact of extreme importance that is often unknown to many naval enthusiasts. First discovered during dredging operations at the confluence of Bayou St. John and Lake Pontchartrain just outside New Orleans in 1878, it was long thought to be the submersible Pioneer (a prototype and predecessor of the H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a vessel in combat). As Pioneer had been built and tested in New Orleans in 1861-62, the assumption was a logical one. The newly recovered submarine was displayed at the Spanish Fort Amusement Park for many years before eventually moving to the grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home of Louisiana nearby. In 1942, the submarine was acquired by the Louisiana State Museum and displayed in and around Jackson Square in downtown New Orleans.

The wreck of the H.L. Hunley was rediscovered in Charleston Bay in 1995 by author and undersea explorer Clive Cussler. Research conducted prior to her eventual raising in 2000 uncovered period drawings, documents, and newspaper articles in the National Archives that proved beyond a doubt that the Bayou St. John submarine was not, in fact, the long-lost Pioneer. Letters discovered from that era also revealed contemporary accounts indicating the construction of the Bayou St. John submarine pre-dated that of Pioneer, though no definitive identity of her builders has ever surfaced. Her presence in New Orleans in the 1861, however, points solidly toward the goal of lifting the U.S. Navy’s blockade of that Confederate port. Whether she was scuttled to avoid capture as happened with Pioneer when the city fell to U.S. forces in April 1862, or sank during trials at an earlier date is still unknown.

In 2006, the submarine was moved to the Capitol Park Museum in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (a branch of the Louisiana State Museum) where she remains on display today.

If the contemporary anecdotal evidence of her construction is correct and the Bayou St. John submarine was indeed constructed in 1861 or slightly earlier, this would make her the second oldest submarine still in existence in the world. Only the Brandtaucher (1850), currently displayed in Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden, Germany, would be older.

The enduring mystery surrounding this small submersible, combined with her status as one of the earliest surviving submarines in the world, makes the Bayou St. John submarine a rare gem in the world of museum ships.

Text & picture courtesy of Tim NesSmith

Whatsapp