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After torpedoing the USS Housatonic in the ocean off Charleston in February 1864, the Confederate "fish ship" H.L. Hunley disappeared with its nine-man crew.

Two months ago the fish ship – the term submarine didn’t come into vogue until many years later – saw the light of day for the first time in 136 years as it was raised to the surface and whisked to a laboratory to begin excavation and restoration.

The raising of the Hunley, an object of curiosity for South Carolinians for generations, also raised speculation about what happened to the sub. Tonight at 8, The History Channel will offer the world premiere of "History’s Mysteries: Raise the Hunley" and some answers to questions about the ship.

The show focuses on the near-impossible search for the Hunley and its eventual discovery. It also focuses intently on the history of the Hunley, its role in the Civil War and modern naval warfare. But it’s also more.

"The real reason for doing the story is because the Hunley is such an international treasure," said Meagan Walker, the supervising producer of the show for the History Channel. "But the plot is the people, the characters who were the crew and commanding officers."

History Channel film crews visited Charleston five times during a five-month period to conduct interviews, film the search and cover the eventual rescue of the ship.

"Really, this is a chronicle of the fabulous history of the Hunley," Walker said.

While the show purports to reveal the secrets of the Hunley, many of them still exist, said George Bell, a Greenvill resident and charter member of the Friends of the Hunley. He’s particularly fascinated about why the submarine’s hatches are still locked tight.

"If you knew you were about to sink, what would you do?" Bell said. For him, the answer is obvious: unlock the hatches and try to swim to safety. "But they didn’t do that."

Bell believes—and documents support—that the crew sacrificed itself because it had orders to allow the Hunley to sink with themselves in it if there was a chance Union troops would capture the ship.

When archaeologists eventually get inside the ship, Bell said, even more mysteries may be resolved.

"If they didn’t die instantly, did they get a chance to write anything?" Bell wondered "That’s the kind of stuff that will survive in saltwater."

With so many pieces still missing in the Hunley puzzle, interest in the Hunley is at an all-time peak, Bell said.

"The fascination will probably grow when we get into it and start pulling out artifacts," he said. "This is probably the most important historic find of the 20th century."

Recently, when 6,000 tickets went on sale for weekend tours of the laboratory where the Hunley is being restored, the Web site crashed after receiving 2.3 million requests in the first 48 hours, Bell said.

While the tickets are long gone and it could be years before the actual Hunley will be on display, TV viewers can get a look at the Hunley tonight.