Pam
... I personally know some of the folks that worked directly on the project during both the recovery and the first few stages of the excavation and conservation work on it. Including removing the crew. One of the guys actually wrote the book on the Hunley. He had several decades worth of detailed research and study on the vessel even before it was located. Not everything has been published.

Copper was commonly used on many nautical things. It was also utilized on anything related to or used on or near explosives. Copper does not "spark". The Torpedo itself was a copper cask of sorts. Anything existing used that would be any form of linkage, supports, guides, braces, would most likely also be made of copper/brass for the same reasons. This is also why the cover lid on a field artillery limber ammunition chest is covered with a sheet of copper.

Just because something found was made of copper doesnt necessarily nor automaticly make it part of the actual torpedo itself as they have apparently assumed. Most folks with any basic engineering concepts would assume that if you have a sealed cask that probably had some bouyancy to it, and you plan to take it underwater slid on the end of pole... you probably would have some means to latch or hook it in place to prevent it from falling or floating off before you intend to disengage it....

Because the item in question was bent, doesnt automaticly assume that it got that way in the torpedo blast. Especially when it was already known that various fishing pots and gear was known to have gotten snagged up on the wreck previously.

The "blue light" some folks in error previously assumed it was probably a blue lensed lantern of sorts. There was a lantern found in the Hunley but it had a clear lens. The type found was a small one in common use frequently called a Dark Lantern, so called because it had a closable shutter between the light source and the lens. Further research found that the phrase used in the 1864 era context refered to a type of common naval pyrotechnic signal device item. When burned kinda looked something between a sparkler or handheld flare. It was quite bright, which could have easily been seen from the four mile distance to Battery Marshall, much further than a small lantern.

Frederick