The next time you take the Ft. Morgan ferry, please keep in mind that somewhere on the bottom of the bay between Dauphin Island and the Ft. Morgan Peninsula rests the prototype for the first successful combat submarine in all human history, AMERICAN DIVER. The life the man who designed and supervised the construction of that submarine along with the HUNLEY in a machine shop which still stands on Water Street, Mobilian James McClintock, is one of the most amazing stories of all the extraordinary tales associated with the mouth of the bay over the past three centuries. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/amazing-if-true-story-submarine-mechanic-who-blew-himself-then-surfaced-secret-agent-queen-victoria-180951905/?no-ist

MASONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUNLEY
http://www.knightstemplar.org/KnightTemplar/articles/20141127.htm

AMERICAN DIVER
http://www.hunley.org/main_index.asp?CONTENT=DIVER

HISTORY OF THE HUNLEY
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/underwater-archaeology/sites-and-projects/ship-wrecksites/h-l-hunley/the-h-l-hunley-in-historical-context.html


Here's a link to the 1876 British Consul's report on commerce through the Port of Mobile. It includes details about lighterage expenses and breakwater construction at the lower anchorage at Navy Cove. Consul Cridland describes plans to dredge the Dog River Bar and to extend a thirteen foot ship channel from the city wharves to the lower anchorage. In addition to lighterage expenses, costs of pilotage, towage, stowage, tonnage dues, harbor dues and ballast discharge expenses are included. Of the 232 ships arriving at Mobile that year, 38 were British. Statistics are included which show a 15% increase in cotton exports along with statistics pertaining to 8 other commodities being exported from Alabama at that time. Statistics for the 27 different commodities imported into Alabama include everything from bacon to whiskey. Consul Cridland's report includes a detailed description of Alabama's post-Reconstruction economy along with plans to exploit the coal fields at Tuscaloosa.
https://books.google.com/books?id=xcTNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA370&dq=breakwater+%22navy+cove%22+%22lower+anchorage%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAGoVChMIpvWu5rnqyAIVRTo-Ch1wBws4#v=onepage&q=breakwater%20%22navy%20cove%22%20%22lower%20anchorage%22&f=false

British Consul Cridland's 1878 Report for the Port of Mobile
https://books.google.com/books?id=8MbNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA693&lpg=PA693&dq=%22mobile%22+%22consul+cridland%22+1876&source=bl&ots=wkfyo8wyuc&sig=M4nPDbiCHT_j3-JA7SybmQdt-yY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAmoVChMIyamfx7fqyAIVhFQ-Ch3MbQsO#v=onepage&q=%22mobile%22%20%22consul%20cridland%22%201876&f=false


British Consul Cridland's 1880 Report for the Port of Mobile
https://books.google.com/books?id=2j9EAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA602&dq=%22mobile+bay%22+%22consul+cridland%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAWoVChMI56yOqLDqyAIVRnQ-Ch1AOAOz#v=onepage&q=%22mobile%20bay%22%20%22consul%20cridland%22&f=false

Consul Cridland's 1863 appointment as British consul at Mobile after Consul Magee was caught smuggling money out of Mobile on a British man-of-war. https://books.google.com/books?id=07QKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=british+consul+cridland&source=bl&ots=JlwP8faIVH&sig=UZrRSsqMmL5rQNU9Sx-lKvFCy9I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIu8fljL7qyAIVAzU-Ch2zIwbS#v=onepage&q=british%20consul%20cridland&f=false

 The oldest U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey marker on the Gulf Coast (1847) is inside Ft. Gaines. http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/cgind19.htm

The entrance to Mobile Bay has seen its share of tragedies but probably none as horrific as what occurred after July 11, 1853 when the barque MILTIADES sailed into the bay and anchored off the Dog River Bar. The bilge water inside this ship contained the mosquito wigglers of the species which carries yellow fever and by the time the frost of November killed off these mosquitos, 1331 Alabamians rested in their graves. http://alabamapioneers.com/yellow-fever-mobile-alabama/#sthash.EIAxlfYu.dpbs

DAUPHIN ISLAND DURING WWII: The entrance to Mobile Bay acted as a safe haven for Allied convoys sailing through the German submarine infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. The following quote comes from a speech made by Lieutenant Commander Harry L. Hargrove, U.S.C.G. Temporary Reserve and President of the Mobile Bay Bar Pilots Association. The occasion for the speech was the decommissioning ceremonies for the Mobile Bar Pilot vessels which had served the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII.

"Our pilots have magnificently performed their arduous duties and have shared substantially in achieving victory. They have done their full share in that enormous nationwide job, handling, during 1944, 120,000 assignments to bring our ships safely into dock and guide them out to sea again, under the most adverse conditions. During the height of the submarine menace in 1942 and 1943, the channel lights were dimmed and other wartime precautions—common to all ports-were observed in Mobile. This meant a double load of risk and responsibility for our pilots. Our harbor, with its narrow channel, is becoming more crowded with returning ships each day. Our great and steadily increasing problem is what to do with the ships. We are often at a loss to find docking space for the big vessels that continue to arrive at this port since the end of the war, at a rapid rate."

One of these Mobile bay pilot boats which served as a U.S. Coast Guard ship during WWII, the 90 foot 2-masted schooner ALABAMA, still sails out of the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama_(schooner)


Anyone interested in understanding the incredible historical significance of Dauphin Island must read this  important document prepared for the Historic American Engineering Record to describe the story of the Mobile Bar Pilots' Vessel ALABAMA. This paper includes the 300 year history of the extremely dangerous job performed by the pilots of Mobile Bay along with the story of many of pilot vessels those men have owned. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma1300/ma1326/data/ma1326data.pdf

The Mobile Bay Bar Pilots' vessel ALABAMA (1926-1966) still sails out of the harbor of Vineyard Haven on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. www.theblackdogtallships.com