Currently, there are no known photographs of the early submarine pioneers that manned the Hunley. In order to put a face on their contribution to maritime history, the Hunley Project created visual reconstructions of the crew in preparation for their burial in 2004.
Each skull was cast and the cast served as the foundation that defined the shape of the face. Forensic information was also incorporated about each crewmember’s age, gender, and injuries, such as a healed fracture of the nose.
Next, clay was overlaid onto the cast of the skull to reflect the overall shape of the face, including the forehead, prominence of the brow ridges, profile and outline of the jaw.
When the information was not available from surviving military records, hair, eye and skin color were left to the interpretation of the forensic artist. For a few Hunley crewmembers, hair color was able to be determined from military records.
