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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley is upright for the first time in almost 150 years.

But there is no immediate indication why the sub went down off the South Carolina coast in 1864.

Scientists at a lab in North Charleston finished rotating the hand-cranked submarine to an upright position late Thursday.

It was resting at a 45-degree angle in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean when it was raised in August, 2000. Scientists had kept it in that position since as they work to preserve it.

Scientists say they may have to wait until they have removed encrusted sediment from the hull to find clues why it went down shortly after sinking a blockading Union warship in Charleston Harbor. It was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)