Hi David,

From all I have seen about the Pioneer, the method of attack was to rise up underneath an enemy vessel, and screw the torpedo, mounted on the top of the hull of the Pioneer, into the bottom of the enemy vessel. Then, dropping down and cranking away from the enemy boat, until a lanyard tripped the detonator, exploding the torpedo.

I believe the trials you speak of were conducted in Mobile Bay, with the Pioneer II, a.k.a. the American Diver. However, the Diver was equipped with a towed torpedo, delivered by diving perpendicular to the enemy vessel, and towing the torpedo until it contacted the hull. There are some writers who attribute this feat to the Hunley being tested in Mobile Bay, after the Diver was lost.

The Hunley's original attack mode at Charleston was the same, having been proven in Mobile bay. However, while being towed by a David, out to the blockade fleet, the David developed trouble, and stalled for a while. The Hunley had already deployed it's towed torpedo, which then nearly drifted into the Hunley. Due to that incident, the David captain refused to tow the Hunley again.

The Union Blockade learned of the Hunley's attack method, and anchored in shallow water, and deployed fender netting, to snare the sub. Upon learning this, the towed method was abandoned, and the spar torpedo was attached to the bow.

A full scale mock-up of the Pioneer is on display at the Madisonville Maritime Museum, at Madisonville, La., on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

Interestingly, the submarine found in Pontchartrain in 1878, built in 1861-62, now in the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge, used a spar torpedo.

Steve