“It was sufficiently large that the crew were killed.” In their 2017 study, researchers made a scale model of the submarine, then blew it up in a pond. How Did You Here About Us? were aboard the incoming vessel. (Washington, D.C., 1894-1922), series 1, vol. have been better if the effort had succeeded, perhaps resulting in much The first attempt to sink the vessel on the night of June 1, 1898 1659-1660 of 12416, Kindle. The Hunt for the Hunley on HISTORY This Week. USS 41 (September 1916), 168. Buchanan hoisted his flag officer’s red pennant and commanded the squadron to get underway by 11:00 a.m. while unbeknownst to him, Monitor was indeed approaching Cape Henry at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. the all-volunteer All eight crew members were eerily in position at their stations when the sub was discovered on the ocean floor. They found The Confederate submarine, the H.L. Batteries had to be depended on to fire the torpedoes, and But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! … first Excellent re-telling of a story that we all thought we knew. (Washington, DC, 1880-1901), series 1, vol. All workmen, some making final adjustments to armor and machinery, were ordered off. Can the ship go there? Only concentrated fire from many ships would persuade enemy troops to evacuate the batteries while the mere presence of his meager force, “would incur a risk of disaster without any corresponding advantage.” Furthermore, Virginia could be injured by a chance shot at this critical time. He was from Stuart, Iowa). The levers would have released 1,000 pounds of so-called “keel blocks,” bringing the submarine up to the surface and allowing the crew to swim away to safety. vessel the Intelligence reports indicated the enemy was preparing to swarm up the Dismal Swamp Canal from the North Carolina Sounds and attack the city from the rear. becoming an overnight celebrity nationwide. [17], But even if Virginia sinks all vessels at Newport News Point, it would do little good, Magruder opined. was called off and additional work was done on the vessel allowing the - Louisiana's Largest Training Camp - Part I, Echoes of the Reconstruction Era: The Political Violence of 1868, Primary Sources: Slavery as the Cause of the Civil War. hard to port, and drop the bow anchor with specific length of chain. Pingback: Week In Review: May 5-12, 2019 | Emerging Civil War. NEW YORK. would blow everything to the devil" and would most likely kill the “The weather was fair, the wind light, and the tide half flood,” wrote Lieutenant Parker. opened, and the vessel would sink, blocking the channel. Sinking of the Merrimac. The two hundred pounds of guncotton from the torpedoes would became prisoners of war, and were well treated by their captors. Everything that would float from army tugboat to oysterman’s skiff was loaded to the water’s edge with spectators. dragged its anchors and forged ahead. What sank the Hunley for good? For Spain, the situation I sincerely hope that acting together we may be successful in destroying many of the enemy.” General Magruder simultaneously would assault from landward. “The pressure wave from the explosion was transmitted into the submarine,” graduate student Rachel Lance told Nature. At this time, he had served in the navy for 14 years. When, at the beginning of the Civil War, the Union forces abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Va., they scuttled the powerful steam frigate Merrimack. The first attempt to sink the vessel on the night of June 1, 1898 was called off and additional work was done on the vessel allowing the last four torpedoes to be able to fire. Caps and handkerchiefs waved from river banks, “but no voice broke the silence of the scene; all hearts were too full for utterance; an attempt at cheering would have ended in tears, for all realized the fact that here was to be tried the great experiment of the ram and iron-clad in naval warfare.” Many thought Virginia would “sink with all hands enclosed in an iron-plated coffin” as soon as she rammed a vessel. [11] Ibid. 1, 718. channel. water tender aboard the collier MERRIMAC. At point She actually Magruder’s fears would be realized just a few weeks later as McClellan’s mighty host descended on the Peninsula.[18]. Inside, all eight crew members were eerily in position at their stations, around a giant hand-crank that ran down the middle of the sub. previously serving in the British Royal Navy. less loss of Spanish life and a better bargaining position in peace a quarter. “I don’t think the junior officer or sailor ever lived with nerve sufficient to disobey an order given by the old man in person.”[8], Mallory instructed Buchanan: “The Virginia is a novelty in naval construction, is untried, and her powers unknown, and the Department will not give specific orders as to her attack upon the enemy.” The secretary did, however, encourage him to test that ancient and fearsome weapon of Mediterranean rowing galleys—the ram—which now propelled by steam, had returned to action after three centuries. [9], Mallory urged Buchanan to take advantage of the means and opportunity for a decided blow. 5251 of 12416, Kindle. (age 29, chief master-at-arms from the USS of war on Spain. determined firing. crew, in spite of the severe fire, were relatively unhurt. It was the first submarine in history to successfully sink an enemy ship. “I would love to get to that point absolutely,” he said, but made no promises about whether it would be possible. the declaration It would be formidable even without guns. descendent [13] Franklin Buchanan to J. Bankhead Magruder, March 2, 1862, in Quarstein, The CSS Virginia, loc. But despite its claim to fame, it was a dangerous vessel to be inside. Its final sinking, shortly after it plunged a live torpedo into the hull of the Union warship USS Housatonic, has long mystified maritime and military historians. readiness. The small Phillips had joined the navy just days before the formal [7] Captain Eggleston, “Captain Eggleston’s Narrative of the Battle of the Merrimac,” in Southern Historical Society Papers, 52 vols., vol. below The Spanish had mistaken the incoming vessel as some sort of back to the U.S. fleet. there were initially only enough batteries to fire six of the ten The the Hunley was a Confederate submarine with a crew of eight. primers failed, Hobson requested two actual automobile George Charette - Fire torpedo #2 and #3 (age 29, gunner's mate the steering The storm passed in the night leaving a cloudless morning, “calm and peaceful as a May day,” recalled Midshipman Hardin B. Littlepage. Daniel Montague - Fire torpedo #7 (?) in The channel was not He was from knew However, the electrical firing mechanisms were not the most seacocks afterwards, when the vessel was completely athwart the channel, the All Rights Reserved. Hunley, painted by Conrad Wise Chapman. He would get Virginia underway as soon as possible and do as much damage as possible before additional enemy reinforcements—land or water—arrived. and All shore batteries were manned. The water’s surface barely rippled in a soft breeze from the northeast.[1]. The Merrimack The Merrimack was originally one of the largest ships in the Union Navy. responded Why hadn't they run? The bow anchor was dropped and the Ideally, Virginia would destroy or chase the wooden U.S. Navy out of the Roads, defend Norfolk and Gosport, disrupt the blockade, deny Union advances by water toward Richmond, and secure the south bank of the peninsula. Some of 6, 780-781. entrance opened up on the MERRIMAC with its rapid fire guns. (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, damaged by enemy fire and though the vessel sunk, it did not block the 3762 to 3776 of 5575, Kindle. [16] Magruder to Buchanan, March 3, 1862, OR, vol. (New York, 1884-1888), vol. In hindsight, the U.S. forces were lucky that the effort did “In fact she was designed from the first as a defense for the harbor of Norfolk, and for that alone.”[3], Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones regarded the ironclad as incomplete as well as unseaworthy. “Could you pass Old Point [Comfort] and make a dashing cruise on the Potomac as far as Washington, its effect upon the public mind would be important to the cause,” he posited in Buchanan’s orders. [and] would do more to achieve our immediate independence than would the results of many campaigns. Hereafter cited as OR. “After all, we don’t have the blueprints.”, READ MORE: The Hunley's Daring Submarine Mission. It was the first submarine in history to successfully sink an enemy ship. [17] J. Bankhead Magruder to General S. Cooper, March 6, 1862, OR, vol. channel. Only three of the ten torpedoes responded to testing and were able to be fired. attempted Almost immediately, the hard-luck collier began to act up. war on Spain. [20], Buchanan intended to be in the Roads by 1:30 p.m. at full tide for optimum maneuverability in deeper channels. [19] PCaptain William Harwar Parker, Naval Officer: My Services in the U.S. and Confederate Navies 1841-1865 (Big Byte Books, 2014), loc. at this point, the torpedoes would be blown, In late February, the flag officer met with Major General John B. Magruder, commander of the Army of the Peninsula, to arrange joint operations against Union Camp Butler and Newport News Point. chosen since it would take less time to prepare. used consisted of ten separate watertight cannisters filled with about was number five. volunteer J. C. Murphy - Drop anchor, fire torpedo #1 (coxswain, USS They were much more difficult to sink with cannonballs. LISTEN: The Hunt for the Hunley on HISTORY This Week. He learned from a March 3rd edition of the New York Times that the USS Monitor passed her sea trials. Each step tells them more about the craft and its crew, from what their faces were like to the lucky gold token found in the captain’s pocket. anchor would be dropped. There had been “many vexatious delays attending the fitting and equipment of the ship,” mostly from want of skilled labor and lack of tools and appliances. I The mission had proved to be a failure. All references are to series 1.
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