CSS Albemarle

[georgew]

Different set of plans for the CSS Albemarle.

View attachment 187795

View attachment 187796

View attachment 187797

It's interesting that this appears to show a gallery position on the "casemate deck" for sharpshooters. I assume these are iron plates. You wonder if they were hinged to the deck or stationary.

 

[rebelatsea]

It's interesting that this appears to show a gallery position on the "casemate deck" for sharpshooters. I assume these are iron plates. You wonder if they were hinged to the deck or stationary.

The original drawings of CSS Fredericksburg also show those plates along the top of the casemate, but they were never fitted. I think Porter intended them to be fixed.

 

[RoadDog]

The Albemarle was raised 155 years ago today. I haven't found out exactly how she was raised. Does anybody know?

Also, wouldn't it have been great for the ship to have been saved for future generations.

--RoadDog

 

[rebelatsea]

The Albemarle was raised 155 years ago today. I haven't found out exactly how she was raised. Does anybody know?

Also, wouldn't it have been great for the ship to have been saved for future generations.

--RoadDog

The USN salvaged her intact, and took her for examination, presumably they blocked the hole in her side and pumped herout.

 

[Story]

Oh that Cushing - one of the original SEALs.

 

[Ben Ford 987]

Maybe this will help: there was nothing wild about the articles. The two guns aboard the Albemarle were removed by the Confederates and mounted on the shore to command the upper river approaches. The Union flotilla, under Commander William H. Macomb, used the Middle Passage as expected to get above Plymouth and attack coming downstream. Before Lt. Alexander Warley was forced to leave by the approaching Union ships, he had an explosive charge detonated inside the forward casemate. It blew out the forward starboard casemate. (This information comes from Bob Elliott's book Ironclad of the Roanoke.) The Albemarle was floated after some of the armor was removed and the leaks sealed. Then she was towed to Norfolk by the USS Ceres. One of the Albemarle guns is indeed on display at the naval base (which was called Gosport in its earlier days). I do not know when the gun was moved from Plymouth to the navy base.

The Union forces did not attempt to break the casemate open to remove the guns: the guns were already removed and Warley had already blown up the forward part of the casemate before the Federals retook Plymouth. He did it so they could not refloat her and use her against the Confederates. What Warley did can be read in his report to Secretary Mallory. (The casemate didn't have to be blown open to get the guns out. The roof of the casemate had removable iron grates.)

Bob Elliott was Gilbert Elliott's great-great nephew. His great grandfather was Peter Elliott, Gilbert's brother.

Thanks, there's nothing like the facts.

 

[rebelatsea]

How did you handle the lower hull shape, and the cutaway to clear the screws?

The drawing I have (from Porter) doesn't show lines, and most others indicate a straight line from the knuckle to the chine -- but that won't work back around the screws.

View attachment 136855

View attachment 136856

Porter's drawing -- see the "large" version:

https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/4496

Love the Dalek - it somehow looks at home LOL.
I once had the surreal experience of sharing an elevator with the Dalek Emperor ! We were attending the Brighton Model World Exhibition with one our Locomotives at the time , I wanted the Emperor to pose with us but Auntie BBC didn't want to play.

 

[USS ALASKA]

17 Sept 1863

Reports of Confederate vessels building in the rivers of North Carolina were a source of grave concern to the Union authorities. Secretary Welles wrote Secretary of War Stanton suggesting an attack to ensure the destruction of an ironclad– which would be C.S.S. Albemarle and a floating battery, reported nearing completion up the Roanoke River. Should they succeed in getting down the river, Welles cautioned, "our possession of the sounds would be jeoparded [sic]."

September 17

17 September US Constitution Day (See 1787) 1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded. 1691 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony received a new charter. 1730 – Friedrich von Steuben…

thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com

'...jeoparded...' - I like that.

Please also see...

Commander William Cushing Vs CSS Albemarle | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

It was his daring plan and its successful execution against the Confederacy's ironclad ram CSS Albemarle that defined his military career. The powerful ironclad dominated the Roanoke River and the approaches to Plymouth through the summer of 1864. By autumn, the U.S. government decided that the...

civilwartalk.com

Follow on vessel for the Albemarle | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

I've found a reference to the follow-on vessel to the Albemarle attributed to Gilbert Elliott. "...It might be of interest that the keel of another vessel was laid at the same place as the "Albemarle", but was ordered burned to prevent it falling into the hands of the Federal army. The three...

civilwartalk.com

CSS Albemarle was commissioned on April 17, 1864. | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

She was built as a ram from oak timbers covered by iron plates. The iron ram protruded from her bow. Thus, she was designed to smash through the sides of wooden ships, the damage hopefully sinking the enemy vessel...

civilwartalk.com

The night the CSS Albemarle was lost | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

A friend of mine wants to paint the scene of the Albemarle's final moments and he asked me to post his question here. On the night she was torpedoed, it was raining off and on, sometimes hard. As her roof was mostly a grating, what stopped the rain from pouring in on the crew that slept aboard...

civilwartalk.com

Albemarle's gun port doors | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

In the Battle of the Albemarle Sound or Battle of Batchelor ' s Bay the Albemarle lost 5 of the 6 gun port doors. These doors approx 6' h by 3'w. Where these iron clad wooden doors or are there 6' x 3' single pieces of iron laying out the to be found? Also, the piece of the aft Brooke that...

civilwartalk.com

Commander Will Cushing - Daredevil Hero of the Civil War | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

8 Bells Lecture | Jamie Malanowski: Commander Will Cushing - Daredevil Hero of the Civil War usnavalwarcollege Published on Sep 16, 2015 Jamie Malanowski, "Commander Will Cushing: Daredevil Hero of the Civil War," Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, Sept. 10, 2015. With the...

civilwartalk.com

CSS Albemarle - Ironclad Ram | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

It was the Union’s turn to suffer. For three years its forces had steadily grown stronger along the North Carolina coast. Federal soldiers occupied most of the eastern part of the state. Few ports remained open, and even those were increasingly restricted by the dishearteningly effective Union...

civilwartalk.com

CSS Albemarle and CSS Neuse differences? | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

Does anyone know if the Albemarle had deck armor, and if so, what thickness? I grew up near Kinston, and have become aware of the CSS Neuse having had an unarmored deck, which is entirely logical, given the Eastern NC river depths. The Neuse seems in some ways to have been an improved Albemarle...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[bdtex]

Reports of Confederate vessels building in the rivers of North Carolina were a source of grave concern to the Union authorities. Secretary Welles wrote Secretary of War Stanton suggesting an attack to ensure the destruction of an ironclad– which would be C.S.S. Albemarle and a floating battery, reported nearing completion up the Roanoke River. Should they succeed in getting down the river, Welles cautioned, "our possession of the sounds would be jeoparded [sic]."

Where is that from?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Where is that from?

This Day in U.S. Military History

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[bdtex]

This Day in U.S. Military History

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Where is that? Is it a digitized publication?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Where is that? Is it a digitized publication?

This Day in U.S. Military History

A day-by-day digest of events regarding all services of the U.S. military. Click HOME from any page to use the Quick Navigation Calendar.

thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[rebelatsea]

Here is a list of iron protected vessels and projects in North Carolina from my book.

Ironclad floating batteries
Tillery's farm 6 gun
Edwards Ferry, 4 gun

Ironclad coast defence vessels either 5 or 6
The Albemarle type
CSS Albemarle
CSS Neuse
CSS Pamlico
The Tarboro' ironclad
The improved Albemarle
CSS Roanoke (The Weldon battery)

CSS Arctic
The 150ft types
CSS North Carolina
CSS Raleigh
CSS Wilmington (North Carolina)

CSS Yadkin

The Bonner ironclads
One at Washington NC.
Two laid down at Hamilton NC,
Merchant conversion at Wilmington

The White Hall Nashville class - now thought to be a completely unknown design.

Mr Gamble's steam floating battery

Other proposed vessels.
1. Source: Ben Shuman
IC allegedly built by J. H. Hammond on Beechy Island in the Savannah River.

2. Source ORN Volume 12 page 669:
Vessel seen in the Savannah River in February and March 1862 by a USN eye witness. Apparently unable to cross the bar and exit the Savannah, Wright, Wilmington or Mud rivers because the depth of water over the bars was only 9ft.
A drawing was made by the eye witness and shows a vessel with a stack positioned to one end of the casemate, with a projection possibly meant to indicate a pilot house (or possibly just a flag seen indistinctly in the distance). It resembles the coast defence ironclads ordered and cancelled by North Carolina.

3. A. B. Thompson
A. B. Thompson was a 1200tons burden (980tons) fully rigged ship captured by CSS Lady Davis on 19th May 1861, taken to Savannah for conversion to an ironclad apparently to the same configuration as the original Virginia. This vessel may have been intended to utilise available paddle machinery. There is no evidence that the conversion was proceeded with and she was scuttled as an obstruction in the Savannah river. - There is some confusion over this vessel as to where it was actually taken, in the new manuscript I have changed the entry to to Georgia.

 

[USS ALASKA]

22 Oct 1864

North Carolina. Union forces in North Carolina were in continual anxiety about a possible attack by the ironclad CSS Albemarle. Instructions for engaging the ironclad ram were circulated if it emerged to challenge Union control of the Carolina Sounds. In the event of such an attack, every wooden vessel would attack immediately, firing canister shot into its gun ports, while attempts were made to ram and disable its steering apparatus. Every ship prepared grappling hooks to permit a boarding attack and to lash the vessels together.

1864 October 22nd

October 22 1864 Saturday Battle of Byram’s Ford, MO (CWSAC Major Battle Union Victory) Second Battle of Independence, MO (CWSAC Formative Battle – Confederate Victory) Siege of Petersburg Sheridan&…

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

26 Oct 1864

North Carolina. A boat expedition commanded by Union Lieutenant William Barker Cushing USN set out to destroy the ironclad CSS Albemarle at Plymouth on the Roanoke River. Cushing had been sent to Washington by Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee to explain his plan for sinking the Confederate ram. He proposed two options, one involving a boarding party to travel overland and then to attack from rubber boats; and the other calling for two steam launches to approach the ram's moorings by the river. Both plans envisaged the capture of the ram since Cushing wished to destroy the valuable ship only if absolutely necessary. Cushing proceeded to New York to procure the necessary boats and selected two thirty-foot steam picket launches, each fitted with a fourteen-foot spar torpedo and a twelve-pounder howitzer in the bow. Moving south by the inland water route, one boat was captured by the Confederates on 8 October 1864, but the other arrived in the sounds of North Carolina on 24 October. Cushing disclosed his secret plan and seven officers and men volunteered for the dangerous mission. An additional seven men were soon recruited from the blockading squadron. Cushing departed during the night of 26 October but grounded at the mouth of Roanoke River, spending most of the hours of darkness freeing his craft. The expedition was postponed until 27 October.

1864 October 26th

October 26 1864 Wednesday Siege of Petersburg Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama – Siege of Decatur Price’s Missouri Raid Go to October 27 1864 Decatu…

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

'Moving south by the inland water route, one boat was captured by the Confederates on 8 October 1864...'

Steam Picket Boat No. 2, | Naval War - At Sea & Along Inland Waterways

Expired Image Removed October 8, 1864 Steam Picket Boat No. 2, Acting Ensign Andrew Stockholm, was captured by Confederate troops in Wicomico Bay, Virginia. The boat was one of two purchased by Lieutenant Cushing in New York for the expedition against C.S.S. Albemarle, and was en route in...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

27 Oct 1864

Roanoke River, North Carolina. A boat expedition commanded by Lieutenant William Barker Cushing USN attempts to destroy the ironclad CSS Albemarle, Lieutenant Alexander P Warley, at Plymouth on the Roanoke River. The picket boat towed a cutter from USS Shamrock to board the Southfield in order to prevent the alarm from being sounded by its sentries. The expedition passed silently within twenty feet of Southfield without being detected and covered the eight miles between Albemarle Sound and Plymouth. The raiders originally hoped to board CSS Albemarle to capture the ram but they were spotted by a sentry and so they headed straight for the ship to destroy it with the torpedo. Cushing's boat approached under heavy fire from the ship and from the shore but discovered a large boom of protective logs surrounding the Confederate ship. This was far enough away from the ship to prevent the use of the extended spar torpedo. The boat was turned around and made a second run at the obstructions at full speed. The howitzer was fired at the iron ship and unexpectedly the boat lurched over the log barrier from the recoil. The torpedo boom was lowered manually and exploded against the ship just as the CSS Albemarle opened fire with its main gun. The torpedo blew a gaping hole in the port quarter of CSS Albemarle and the ship began to sink rapidly. The Union launch was wrecked by grapeshot from the Confederate gun, but Cushing refused to surrender and ordered his men to save themselves by swimming ashore. Only Cushing and one other man escaped death or capture. Escaping its pursuers, Cushing found himself near a Confederate picket station the following night. He stole their skiff and rowed eight miles downstream back to Albemarle Sound, where he was picked up by USS Valley City on 29 October. The destruction of the ironclad CSS Albemarle opened the way for the capture of Plymouth and restored control of the entire Roanoke River area to the Union fleet. It also released some of the ships that had been guarding against the ram to resume work on blockade duties.

Full write-up here - https://americancivilwarhighcommand.com/chronology-day-by-day/chronology-1864/1864-october-27th/

Engraved reproduction of a wash drawing by R.G. Skerrett, 1900, of Picket Boat Number One. This craft, armed as a spar-torpedo launch, was used by LT. William B. Cushing to sink the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle on the night of 27-28 October 1864. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 63378.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098636103.jpg

Generic lithograph representing the USS Shamrock gunboat. Wikipedia

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098635505.jpg

CSS Albemarle torpedoed and sunk by LT. William B. Cushing in Picket Boat Number One at Plymouth, N. C., 27 October 1864. Phototype published by F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa the later 19th Century. Print from the Skerrett Collection, Bethlehem Steel Company Archives. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 57267.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098636105.jpg

Preparing Merchant Vessels for the Blockade", Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861. Merchant steamers Augusta, James Adger, Florida and Valley City being fitted out for naval service at New York Navy Yard.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098648802.jpg

Lieutenant William B. Cushing USN Photograph taken circa 1864. The original print is mounted on a Carte de Visite. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 51749

https://www.history.navy.mil/bin/imageDownload?image=/content/dam/nhhc/our-collections/photography/images/NH%2051000/NH%2051749&rendition=cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

29 Oct 1864

North Carolina. Following the destruction of the Confederate ironclad ram CSS Albemarle, Union Commander David B Macomb moved against Plymouth. Macomb steamed up the Roanoke with six ships. The USS Valley City, Acting Master John A J Brooks, proceeded via Middle River and entered the Roanoke above Plymouth to cut off the garrison's escape by water, while five other gunboats engaged the lower batteries protecting the town. They found two schooners sunk abreast of the wreck of USS Southfield. This arrangement increased the obstructions in the river and the vessels withdrew to Albemarle Sound.

1864 October 29th

October 29 1864 Saturday Siege of Petersburg Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Price’s Missouri Raid Go to October 30 1864 Alabama. Siege of Decatur …

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

David B. Macomb Chief Engineer, U.S. Navy. Naval History and Heritage Command NH 79229

https://www.history.navy.mil/bin/imageDownload?image=/content/dam/nhhc/our-collections/photography/images/NH%2079000/NH%2079229&rendition=cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

31 Oct 1864

Plymouth, North Carolina. Union Commander David B Macomb's river fleet of six gunboats formed a line of battle with the USS Commodore Hull, Acting Master Francis Josselyn, in the van, followed by USS Tacony, USS Shamrock, Commander Macomb, USS Otsego, Lieutenant-Commander Henry N T Arnold, and USS Wyalusing, Lieutenant-Commander Earl English. The tinclad USS Whitehead, Acting Master Barrett, was lashed to the port side of USS Tacony, and the tugs Bazely and Belle were lashed to USS Shamrock and USS Otsego, respectively. The fleet engaged the Plymouth batteries and rifle pits at close range and USS Commodore Hull sustained heavy damage. The Union shells detonated a large magazine ashore and the Confederates began to evacuate their fortifications. The ships landed men to occupy the batteries without resistance. A landing party from USS Wyalusing entered Fort Williams and then occupied Plymouth, which had been recaptured by the Confederates 20 April 1864. Macomb captured 37 prisoners, 22 guns, a large quantity of stores, and the sunken hulk of CSS Albemarle. The capture of Plymouth regained control of the Roanoke River and Albemarle Sound for the Union and offered access to the interior of North Carolina from the sea. The Confederates were forced to burn the two hulks they had been trying to build into ironclads to support CSS Albemarle.

1864 October 31st

October 31 1864 Monday State of Nevada admitted to the Union Plymouth, NC Siege of Petersburg Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign Hood’s Operations in Northern Alabama Price’s Missouri Raid…

americancivilwarhighcommand.com

19th Century photograph of a painting by Acting Second Engineer Alexander C. Stuart, USN, 1864 depicting USS Commodore Hull (at left) leading the "Double-Ender" gunboats USS Tacony, USS Shamrock, USS Otsego and USS Wyalusing in engaging Confederate batteries at Plymouth, North Carolina, 31 October 1864. Small vessels lashed to the gunboats' unengaged sides include USS Whitehead (beside Tacony), Bazely (beside Shamrock) and USS Belle (beside Otsego). US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 58943 from the collection of Surgeon H.P. Babcock, USN. Donated by his son, George R. Babcock, 1939.

https://www.navsource.net/archives/09/86/098622401.jpg

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Hammons]

I find this thread interesting. I lived about 1/4 mile from where the CSS Neuse's keel was laid.