BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Scientists have started the long job of removing the encrustation from the hull of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.

When they are finished in about a year, they hope to have the clues as to why the hand-cranked Hunley sank after becoming the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship.

For more than three months, the sub has been in a conservation tank in North Charleston soaking in chemicals to help loosen the hard sand, sediment and rust clinging to the sub. Conservators on Tuesday started using tools similar to those of a dentist to gently remove the encrustation.

The Hunley sank off Charleston in 1864 after sinking the Union blockade ship Housatonic. The sub was raised in 2000 and brought to the lab.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.