February 15, 1868 - Submarine Races?

During the Civil War (1861) a 30 foot two-man submarine was built on Bayou St. John to be used in the lake in an attempt to destroy the Union steamers New London and Calhoun on Lake Pontchartrain. One man propelled the submarine by turning the manual crank. It was armed with clock-work torpedo, carried on top which was to be screwed into the bottom of the enemy's ships. Named "Pioneer", the sub made several descents in Lake Pontchartrain and succeeded in destroying a small schooner and several rafts during experiments. Before doing harm to enemy ships, Admiral Farragut captured the city and the sub was sunk to prevent it from falling into Federal hands.

The February 15, 1868 New Orleans Picayune, morning edition, reported that the sub was "to be sold at public auction today....It was built as an experiment and was never fully perfected, and is only valuable now for the machinery and iron which is in and about it.' The Picayune afternoon edition reported that it had been sold as scrap for $43. See http://www.stphilipneri.org/teacher/pontchartrain/content.php?type=1&id=239  for more details about the subs in Lake Pontchartrain.