The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), originally an organization within the fiction of author Clive Cussler, is a private non-profit organization in the United States. Cussler created and leads the actual organization which is dedicated to “preserving maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.” NUMA has discovered many sunken ships. The wreck of the Confederate States Navy submarine H. L. Hunley was confirmed by NUMA in 1995, using information based around Dr. E. Lee Spence’s prior discovery of the wreck, and salvaged in August 2000.