Confederate Ram CSS Albemarle

the relatively underappreciated naval war in the United States civil war generally favored the federal fleet there just weren't a lot of shipyards in the south and so it was easier for the Union Navy to acquire and build vessels but the Union Navy had a daunting task as the union's idea was to starve the Confederacy through a stifling blockade that required that the Union Navy cover some 2,500 miles of Confederate coast land instead of a series of fleet engagements the naval war and the Civil War was largely a series of small ship engagements that were trying to either break or hold that blockade and in that fight one of the most interesting stories is of the unique Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle whose brief service represented extraordinary daring and privado on both sides it's history that deserves to be remembered by 1862 the larger and quickly growing federal Navy was managing and effective though not airtight blockade and the South was looking to overcome a numerical disadvantage by producing better quality ships notably new iron clads the CSS Virginia was built from the cut-down hole of the steam screw frigate USS Merrimack which had been scuttled by the Union Navy in 1861 after being trapped in the harbor in Norfolk Virginia the ship was raised its hole cut down and a casemate built on top in the March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads the Virginia proved devastating to wooden federal warships being virtually invulnerable to their cannon well the subsequent battle between Virginia and the USS Monitor the world's first battle between iron clads was indecisive the success against federal wooden warships gave the Confederate Navy hope that they could break the Union blockade in North Carolina early in the war a Union offensive had taken much of the coast of North Carolina allowing them to build fortifications that could support the federal fleet enforcing the blockade especially a fortification at Plymouth along the Roanoke River upstream from Albemarle Sound on North Carolina's inner banks just a month after the Battle of Hampton Roads the Confederate Navy awarded a contract to a nineteen-year-old naval engineer named Gilbert Eliot to build a Confederate ironclad boat on the Roanoke River that could defeat the federal gunboats that were defending the Union fortifications at Plymouth but the construction of the boat would be no mean feat if the construction were to be on the river the Union Navy would simply destroy them the key is it was being built instead Elliott decided to build the boat in essentially a cornfield at a place called Edwards Ferry for enough upriver an inch Oh enough water that the Union gunboats could not reach it that necessitated building the boat away from industry supply was an issue especially the amount of iron needed to build the case-mate Elliott had to scrounge for iron often going door to door asking for locals to donate their cast-iron pans or plows sometimes making that request at gunpoint Elliott sketched a design that was finalized by John L Porter a Virginian and Navy veteran who had launched have been responsible for the conversion of the Merrimack into the Virginia Porter had been appointed chief constructor in the Confederate States Navy Confederate naval officer James W Cooke was given command of the vessel and oversaw the construction construction began in January 1863 the boat was 158 feet long slightly more than half of that of CSS Virginia with a beam of just over 35 feet while the casemates looked at 30 degrees would be similar to Virginia the new boat would mount just two guns 6.4 inch double bended Brook rifles rifle barreled muzzle loading naval gun designed by John Mercer Brooke chief of the Confederate Navy's Bureau of ordnance the Brooke rifles were mounted on swivels to the fore and aft each could fire one of three directions through portals with armored covers giving a 180-degree field of fire that allowed one each to shoot forward and aft or both to be fired in broadside the guns were heavy nearly 12,000 pounds including the carriage the boats prow was designed as a ram that was intended to drive a hole beneath the waterline of an enemy vessel her single screw was driven by a steam engine that allowed her to make about four knots she had a crew of 150 in a relatively shallow draft of just under nine feet that would allow her to operate in the shallows and that would protect her from the larger deep water ship so the federal Navy they decided to name the ship the CSS Albemarle after the town of Albemarle North Carolina which was named after the 1st Duke of Albemarle who was a 17th century Englishman who was among the to get a charter to establish a colony in the Carolinas construction took more than a year and in that time the Union Navy became aware of the project but the site was too far upriver for the Navy to respond and the army decided that couldn't spare troops for an overland mission to attack the construction Albemarle launched in April 1864 intent upon clearing the Roanoke River of Union vessels to facilitate an attack on the fortifications there by troops under the command of General Robert F Hoke the Union Navy had prepared for the new ironclad Ram first obstacles had been placed at a narrows and tending prevent Albemarle from reaching the federal fleet but the river was running high after heavy rains and there was just enough river for Albemarle to clear the obstacles guns from nearby Union fortifications fired at her but they were unable to penetrate the ironclads armor but the Union naval commander Lieutenant Commander Charles W Flusser had another plan for the ironclad - Union steamers us a South field and USS Miami had been chained together to concentrate firepower and rushed towards Albemarle Cook recognized the trap and managed to maneuver Albemarle outboard of Southfield bring it dangerously close to the shore where Albemarle could become grounded as the three boats collided AB Amaro's Ram scraped across Miami's bow and smash through thousands starboard side the RAM penetrated below the waterline in Southfield began to sink the crew of Miami had to cut the chains time the vessels together so it's not be taken down with South field but Albemarle was caught its RAM trapped in Southfield side as South field sank it start to bring Albemarle under with it taking advantage of Albemarle his predicament plus her personally fired a cannon point-blank from Miami into the Albemarle explosive shell had a 10 second fuse the shell struck Albemarle bounced off its sloped iron armor and landed at flushers feet that exploded killing him instantly the crew of Miami tried to board Albemarle but were driven back by musket fire a Bambara was still going down with South field but the steamer rolled as it hit the river bottom freeing Albemarle however the bow had been pulled down so low that it could not lift fast enough to make a clean shot at Miami which retreated thus the South field in sinking saved the by Emmy but Albemarle had won the battle the Union Navy retreated and without the help of their guns and with Albemarle aspiring at them the Union troops were defeated and the fort's were taken on April 20th Albemarle had another crack of the Union Navy on May 5th while escorting a vessel carrying Confederate troops at the mouth of Albemarle Sound named after the same British Duke Albemarle along with a small steamer in the transport rented to a substantial squadron of eight federal gun boats including USS Miami the four largest of which amounted 60 tenens combined the federal cannon thundered but were able to pierce Albemarle's Armour the RAM was struck by more than 500 shells even gets stacked looking like Swiss cheese Albemarle tried to ram USS meta Bassett but the steamer avoided the RAM Albemarle was then rammed by the 200-foot steamer USS SAS ACCA's SAS ACCA's rode up on a bomb arrows bow so much so that the RAM seemed like it might sink Cooke reportedly yelled to his men stand to your guns and if we must sink let us go down like brave men SAS ACCA's rode up on Albemarle for nearly ten minutes but a shot from Albemarle pier successes because his boiler and the ship filled with hot steam SAS ACCA's managed to float free but the Albemarle had escaped a correspondent from Harper's Weekly was aboard SAS ACCA's and rotor the unsuccessful attempt to ram no better opportunity than was here presented could have been desired for testing and deciding the mooted point as to the possibility of injuring an ironclad by ramming with a wooden ship USS Miami tried to sink Albemarle with its part torpedoes into an explosive on the end of his bar but failed to score a hit the Federals attempted to entangle Albemarle propeller with a net but a broken line fouled the plan the small Confederate steamer was captured but the troop transport and CSS Albemarle escaped only one member of Albemarle crew had been killed in the battle shot while looking out a portal but Albemarle was damaged its Afghan had been broken off 18 inches from the end although it continued to fire and some of its metal plates from the hail of fire it started to buckle and were becoming detached Albemarle went back to Plymouth for repairs and Rear Admiral Samuel Lee head of the Union Atlantic blocking squadron hatched a new plan William Barker Cushing had attended the u.s. Naval Academy from 1857 to 1861 but had not had a good career there benkei now for poor scholarship and point pranks he's been reinstated at the outset of the civil war and during the word distinguished himself commanding gunboats they've led several daring reconnaissance and reading excursions into Confederate territories knowing his reputation Admiral Lee sent for Cushing Cushing proposed sending two small steam launches armed with spar torpedoes to attack the Albemarle while in port was a daring plan more reminiscent of the commando raids of World War two than the u.s. Civil War Cushing whose brother had died at the Battle of Gettysburg and earned a Medal of Honor for his bravery was reportedly a good friend of Charles plosser was said to be eager to seek revenge for his friend's death Cushing acquired two small steam launches in New York the launches were 30 feet long with a shallow draught about three and a half feet and each was armed with a small howitzer and a spark torpedo an explosive on a stick that if they could sneak up close enough could be used to whole Albemarle below the waterline one of the boats was lost at sea on the way from New York and so Cushing was forced to make the attempt the night of October 27th in just one of the boats the launch with Cushing and seven crew was accompanied by a small cutter with fifteen more men the Confederates used the wreckage of USS Southfield as a lookout post and the men and the cutter were assigned to subdued the lookouts there or if necessary the additional men might be used to board and take control of Albemarle but it was rainy that night and Cushing's group was not spotted as they passed the wreck when they arrived at Albemarle that morning they ran into an obstacle Albemarle had been surrounded by a log barrier as they approached they were spotted by sentries came under musket fire Cushing wrote in his report the cutter was then cast off an order below while we made for our enemy under a full head of steam passing her closely we made a complete circle so as to strike her fairly and when into her boughs on by this time the enemy's fire was fairly severe by the dose of canister short-range serve to moderate their zeal and disturb their aim three bullets struck by clothing in the air seemed full of them but Cushing was uncouth - ensign Thomas Gaye even as they were under fire Cushing yelled at the crew of Albemarle leave the RAM or I will blow you to pieces Cushing pushes launch to full speed hoping the logs and the barrier will be waterlogged and could slide over them its engage described the HAC having backed our boat sufficiently to get headway enough on her to jump the log pin which encircled the RAM we succeeded in jumping the logs and lowering the torpedo boom still resting on the logs and under constant fire Cushing rote torpedo boom was then lowered and by a vigorous poll I succeeded in diving the torpedo under the overhang and exploding at the same time that the Albemarle gun was fired because of the smoke Cushing was unable to tell if the attack succeeded he tried to back the boat out but they were trapped by the log barrier or the insane gay he yelled to the crew men save yourselves before diving overboard himself in Singh gay tried to swim away but the water was too cold he and most of the Raiders were captured but Cushing managed to swim away Cushing keeping to his daring record found and stole the skiff and escaped reaching the blockade steamer USS Valley City only one other member of the raiding party seaman William Hoffman made it back to Union lines Cushing was able to write in his report the RAM is now completely submerged and the enemy have some three schooners in the river to obstruct the passage of our ships a Confederate letter later captured by the Union described the damage the torpedo bursting blew a great hole in her some six feet long sinking her almost instantly she is now lying at the bottom of the Roanoke River the crew lost everything they had bed clothing and everything in sanjay and the other union officers that were captured were eventually paroled in February of 1865 at least two bodies of Raiders were later recovered by the Union and buried with honors with Albemarle sunk the union was able to recapture Plymouth and the wreck of Albemarle was raised and her hole repaired but Albemarle saw no further service and was finally scrapped for Salvage in 1867 one of her Brooks rifled cannon is on display at the headquarters of the commander u.s. fleet forces command at the Norfolk Virginia Naval Base William Barker Cushing received the thanks of Congress for his raid and became a national celebrity and moderately wealthy from the prize money for the eventual capture of the Albemarle he distinguished himself again during the war in the January 1865 conquest of fort fish North Carolina he continued in the Navy after the war played a notable role during the 1873 Virginia's affair with Cuba he passed away and 1874 is buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery five US Navy ships have been named in his honor the story of the ironclad Confederate Ramsay SS Albemarle is interesting for so many reasons this unique vessel built in a cornfield so vexed the federal fleet and that the daring raid to sinker show how individual initiative can have such a powerful impact on larger events you know in the grand context of war sometimes it's the actions of individual units in small encounters that are so much more interesting than great generals and grand strategies I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guys where it's snippets of forgotten history between ten and fifteen minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and click that thumbs up button if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section I will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on Facebook Instagram Twitter and check out our merchandise on teespring com and if you'd like more episodes don't forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe [Music]

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Views: 164,980

Rating: 4.9814982 out of 5

Keywords: history, the history guy, history guy, us civil war, us history, naval history, ironclad, north carolina, CSS albamarle

Id: X55EazMaCsM

Length: 14min 31sec (871 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2020