The title tells most of the story.  The wrecks are from a British transport fleet that was sunk in an attempt to block a French bombardment.  Interesting.  The ships were discovered in 2005 and just announced now (spring 2006). 

Here's the article:

 livescience.com Article...

Dutch Submarines describes a very interesting BBC project - building a replica of the first known submarine.  Is the BBC documenting the history of a Dutch submarine?  Well the inventor was Cornelius Drebbel (Dutch) and he built and demonstrated it for King James I (British) on the Thames back in the 1620s.  

Anyway, the boat is effectively a wood underwater rowboat and the page linked below has some great photos and illustrations of the design and operation of the replica.  Good stuff!

  http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/specials/special_first_submarine.htm

No good, definitive news yet in search for USS Aligator prototype (Alligator Junior).  Searchers used a magnetometer to scan a suspected mound along a tributary of the Delaware River but the results indicated a smaller mass of metal that was expected.

  Philadelphia Inquirer article...

- larger image -	ASIN: 0060524464 Binding: Paperback List price: $12.95 USD Amazon price: $9.58 USD

Description

Local volunteers, NOAA and the Office of Naval Research are all abuzz about a mound found near Rancocas Creek in Riverside, Pennsylvania.  The hope is that it may contain the remains of a submarine, the prototype of the USS Alligator.  The US Navy, while not the owner of this prototype sub, may assist with a ground penetrating radar to evaluate the possible wreck site.

  Courier Post Online article...

Until now only scientists have gotten a close view of the CSS Hunley.  Now four lucky people will have a chance to look inside this Civil War era submarine.  A silent auction will sell the tour and bidding starts at 300 USD.

  Tuscaloosa News article...

Friends of the Hunley website...

CSS H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States Navy that demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare. Hunley was the first submarine to sink a warship, though the sub was also sunk in the engagement...

The Turtle was the first American submarine, invented in Connecticut in 1775 by David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor. Named for its shape, the Turtle resembled a large clam as much as a turtle; it was 7.5 ft long, 6 ft tall, and about 3 ft wide, consisting of two wooden shells covered with tar...

- larger image -	ASIN: 1840370661 Binding: Hardcover List price: $28.95 USD

Description

Imagine living in Philadelphia during the early days of the Civil War and reading the latest issue of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. A front page story reveals a strange and alarming tale: Harbor police have captured a partially-submerged, 33-foot long, cigar-shaped contraption moving slowly down the Delaware River...

- larger image -	ASIN: 0375414398 Binding: Hardcover List price: $25.00 USD Amazon price: $25.00 USD

Description

NOAA, with support from the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research, has sponsored a search September 9-12 for the Civil War submarine the USS Alligator.  Because of poor weather the team spent one day on the water running search patterns with sidescan sonar and a magnetometer.  Hurricane Ophelia then caused evacuations of Ocracoke Island and neighboring areas of North and South Caronlina.  Checkout the NOAA Mission Logs for more detail.

Launched in 1862, the green, 47-foot Alligator represented a significant leap forward in naval engineering. But before it could prove itself in battle, the Union sub was lost while being towed to Charleston, S.C. and never seen again.

by Dr. Herbert Grove Dorsey The following talk was presented by Dr. Herbert Grove Dorsey, chief of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Radiosonic Laboratory, on September 16, 1932. Dr. Dorsey had worked for Submarine Signal Corporation prior to 1925 when he chose to make a career with the Coast and Geodetic Survey...

...His fathometers increased the efficiency of hydrographic surveying for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and also proved to be of great value to the maritime shipping industry.  His instruments helped delineate much of the continental shelf and slope of the United States and its territories as well as much of the deep sea, in particular the northeast Pacific Ocean, the mid-Atlantic shelf and slope, and Gulf of Mexico.

Through the Looking Glass is a great website on early submarine history from 1900 to 1940.  There is a lot of hard to find material here, many books worth, presented as collections of photographs and illustrations.  Here's the disclaimer from the site:
Be Warned! These pages now contain over 1300 photos and each page may take some time to load.

This warning gives you an idea of how good the site is.  And it gives you a reason to order that DSL or broadband cable connection for faster Internet access.
  Through the Looking Glass - Submarine Photo Essays

- larger image -	ASIN: 155750413X Binding: Hardcover List price: $34.95 USD Amazon price: $23.07 USD

Description