Civil War Subs Found in Shreveport? Probably Not.

SHREVEPORT, La. — A local historian and urban archaeologist thinks he’s solved a mystery: What happened to four Confederate submersibles known to be in Shreveport during the last two years of the Civil War, but missing in action since then. (USA Today)

Interesting story, and writer John Andrew Prime does a great job with the background research. In speaking to Louisiana State University professor Gary Joiner (who flatly rejects the claim), it’s clear that the mystery is far from solved.

But let’s take another look at the picture provided for a moment:

Marty Loschen has a long way to go to prove this claim. Even if he can demonstrate that this is an archaeological site dating to the civil war, period submarine construction techniques would have mirrored boiler construction. Materials, tooling, construction techniques, etc. were the same. So even if there were a “clandestine” submarine base in the area, how would we know this is a submarine and not a boiler (or something else of similar construction?)

More is needed–there will need to be enough wreckage located to discover features unique to Civil War-era submarines. That means hatches, diving planes, etc. I’ll be following this find–though most of these claims disappear under even modest scrutiny, one always hopes for the real deal.