Battle of Nautilus Shoal
13 February 1862
Union order of battle, under Flag Officer Farragut
Minnesota (screw frigate)
Roanoke (screw frigate)
Hartford (screw sloop, flag)
Congress (sail frigate, towed by Zouave)
Cumberland (sail frigate, towed by Dragon)
State of Georgia (steam gunboat)
Jamestown (sailing ship, towed by Hunchback)
Gemsbok (sailing ship, towed by Southfield)
Valley City (steam gunboat)
Daylight (steam gunboat)
Stars and Stripes (steam gunboat)
Valley City (steam gunboat)
Commodore Perry (steam gunboat)
Commodore Barney (steam gunboat)
Morse (steam gunboat)
Whitehead (steam gunboat)
Hunchback (steam gunboat)
Southfield (steam gunboat)
British order of battle, under Capt. Shadwell, C.B. (the squadron at the mouth of the Chesapeake)
Aboukir (steam liner, also squadron leader) - anchored in Lynnhaven Outer Roads
Mersey (steam frigate) - on patrol
Melpomene (steam frigate) - on patrol
Phoebe (steam frigate) - anchored in Lynnhaven Outer Roads
Emerald (steam frigate) - on patrol
Galatea (steam frigate) - anchored in Lynnhaven Outer Roads
Barrosa (steam corvette) - anchored in Lynnhaven Outer Roads
Jason (steam corvette) - on patrol
Racer (steam sloop) – on patrol near Cape Henry
After some days of preparation, Farragut determined to execute his plan on the 13th – somewhat earlier than his original plans had allowed for, but the serious damage done to Fort Monroe on the 12th had forced his hand.
Farragut's planning was bold and daring, and relied on his superior charts of the Chesapeake to make use of two narrow channels in Nautilus Shoal under cover of darkness, before engaging the British squadron at dawn. The distance between the British squadron (reportedly patrolling near the very mouth of the Chesapeake) and the rest of the British force, at Fort Monroe, was considered to give the plan every chance of success.
Making full use of his ships, the largest three (Minnesota, Roanoke, and Congress, under Goldsborough who was still aboard Minnesota) would traverse the deeper western route, despite the dog-leg it imposed; the rest of the force, led by Farragut's own flagship Hartford, would take the shallower eastern one. The rise of tide was expected to allow enough leeway for all the ships to make it through, but it would be fairly tight.
Once traversed, Farragut's force would attempt to surround the British heavy ships – the tougher frigates holding them in play while the lighter gunboats and sloops surrounded them and raked or fired into less well defended quarters. Though the situation was a little unclear – too much so to assign specific targets – Farragut made a point of stressing that the way to carry the day was by bold, aggressive action.
In fact, Farragut's information was out of date. Several reinforcements had arrived at Bermuda for Milne some days prior, and the Severn (under Capt. Montressor) had taken them to the Chesapeake in a body – arriving late on the 12th, with the Severn continuing to join Milne and the remainder dropping anchor in Lynnhaven Outer Roads. Shadwell took the opportunity to reorganize his blockade force, and while there were indeed four ships patrolling the main Chesapeake mouth there were another four (including two frigates and one battleship) a few miles to the west.
Farragut's ships moved into position overnight, navigating by the lights on Smith's Island and at Mobjack Bay, and reached the Nautilus Shoal area about six AM. The tide's timing was not ideal for him - owing to the way the moon was near full, the high tide was coming in rather than going out, and would peak about two hours after sunrise - but the flow was not strong, and his vessels all carefully navigated through the muds of the Nautilus Shoal in the pre-dawn gloom to slip through the few channels, some just scraping the bottom at 23 feet of depth.
Shadwell's squadron were alert enough in general - already three or four vessels had been caught by the blockade, and they wanted to avoid being caught out - but most of the attention of the lookouts was on the south and east (towards the sea) and towards the northwest (where ships following the main shipping channel would be), and Farragut's ships were not sighted until the lead vessels (the Minnesota and the Roanoke, the two with the deepest draft) had negotiated the shallowest part of the western channel and were picking up speed to the east, ready to turn south once the finger of the Middle Ground shoal was no longer in the way. With their successful passage, the independent steam gunboats (many of them shallower and with more leeway) also raised full steam to come through the next passage to the east, led by the Hartford – the resultant shower of sparks betraying their position, but the alarm had been raised and so it was less of a concern.
The first engagement that developed was between the Minnesota and the Mersey, both big fast ships. Mersey made an early attempt to turn Minnesota towards the shoals by getting ahead of her and turning to port, but quickly had to abandon it, and before long the two vessels had settled into a private gun duel – one which was interrupted briefly by fire from the Emerald, though the British vessel was quickly engaged herself by Roanoke. Both pairs of frigates were comparatively evenly matched, with tough sidewalls and big guns (the Emerald possessing the most small guns of below 8” in size, though a few of these were Armstrongs; this gave her a considerable advantage in rate of fire, though not in individual broadside weight.) Emerald was however troubled early on by a particularly well aimed broadside from the Roanoke, which to her detriment happened to be at one of the ranges where Union time fuzes worked best – she suffered considerable casualties to her gun deck as a consequence, and was forced to turn to bring her undamaged broadside into action (though narrowly escaped a rake).
The Melpomene was some way to the east, a little past the second channel, and found herself set upon by the Hartford and most of her consorts – the Union sailing vessels being some way behind, as the wind was inconvenient for them and their tugs were having to work hard to move them. Melpomene's captain began by firing a broadside at Hartford, attempting to catch her while she was vulnerable, but then switched her attention to the nearest gunboat (the Southfield) and hammered the double-ender gunboat with heavy fire – shot from her long guns and shell from her larger shell guns. Considerable damage was immediately done, as the gunboat was a converted civilian ferry, and her above-water boiler was pierced on the third broadside which instantly crippled the craft.
While this was going on, Shadwell had already noticed the firing and raised the alarm. The Barrosa dashed west at full steam to alert Admiral Milne, while the rest of his squadron made for the sound of the guns – led by the Galatea and the Phoebe, the fastest of the squadron.
Milne was woken and alerted of the news a few minutes later, relayed by flag signal from Barrosa, and was faced with a conundrum – one which he quickly solved, ordering some of the shallower ships in his force north through the strait between the Horseshoe shoal and the Horseshoe Tail shoal. At the same time he had his faster heavy vessels take a course east, not to join the battle but to make for the area southeast of Mobjack Bay.
Back around Nautilus Shoal, the Jason joined the battle from the west (having been on the inner patrol line) and her first broadside struck and sank the Zouave. This stranded the Congress in the mouth of the strait through Nautilus Shoal, and the Jason made her distance (taking moderate damage from two broadsides of Congress) before firing on her at range.
The situation was by now chaotic, with Union gunboats sailing hither and yon attempting to attack the vulnerable areas of British warships and plentiful gunsmoke rising in pillars into the nearly-still air of a cold morning. This very confusion tended to obscure the course of the battle, with Farragut in the Hartford focused on attempting to defeat the Melpomene – bringing the Cumberland into the fight as well – and Goldsborough's current ship the Minnesota mainly concerned with the ongoing duel with Mersey. This meant there was effectively nobody in the Union squadron paying sufficient attention to notice the arrival of Shadwell's main force.
The troubled Congress was his first victim, taking broadsides from Aboukir and Galatea in quick succession – their speed allowing each British vessel only one or two broadsides before being out of arc, but the combination sufficing to leave the Congress listing and finally to induce her surrender.
As Shadwell moved east, he next came to the duel with Roanoke and Emerald. In this case the big Union frigate had been getting much the better of the engagement, aided by her lucky early broadside as well as the assistance of gunboats, and she (and the gunboats supporting her, the Valley City, Jamestown and Hunchback) observed Shadwell's flotilla in good time to make for the remaining pass through Nautilus Shoal – though damage to the Jamestown's mast from the battle with Emerald led to the sailing vessel being cut free, as she slowed the Hunchback too much. The Jamestown struck her colours about ten minutes later, as Aboukir came past.
The Hartford, for her part, got somewhat the better of the engagement with the Melpomene, but this was largely at cost of much of her supporting squadron - the Stars and Stripes, Commodore Perry, Daylight and Gemsbok being rendered hors d' combat one by one as the Melpomene's manoeuvres took her closer to one or another, and Farragut's plan of having his lighter ships attack the vulnerable bow and stern of the Melpomene obviated by her speed and adroitness in manoeuvre. Charles A. French in the Whitehead was even rammed, his 136-ton gunboat being totally unable to resist the impact of the 3,800 ton Melpomene at ten knots; however, the shock opened some seams, and the confusion resulting from the need for damage control caused a slackening of fire.
At about this point, Farragut was wounded by a shell, which rendered him unconscious (though the wound was not mortal, it would later cost him the leg) and the battered Hartford also headed north to escape through the Nautilus shoal.
The battle between Mersey and Minnesota, for its part, ran many miles out to sea, and was only concluded when both ships ran aground on Smith's Island Shoal – the crash opening too many of the already-strained seams of the Mersey to allow her to be recovered, though the crew were rescued by the Phoebe well before she was in danger of breaking up. The guns were also retrieved, as was the Minnesota (which had not hit quite so hard, and which was recoverable with some fothering).
The final act in the main battle took place around noon, when the retreating Cumberland, Hartford and Roanoke – all badly damaged – and their remaining consorts, the Valley City, Hunchback and State of Georgia, plus the Dragon towing Cumberland – found a fresh squadron of Milne's force sailing into their path.
Farragut's flag captain sent the order to scatter and proceed to port independently, making it in Farragut's name (an action which Farragut would later assert had been under his own orders, despite his being unconscious at the time) and the Roanoke would ultimately make it to Baltimore, though not without taking some more fire. The Hartford and Cumberland stood their ground, being battered into submission to allow the valuable screw frigate to escape, and Farragut himself would be transferred to shore aboard the Valley City (and thence up the Delmarva peninsula to Baltimore).
The cost to the British was not inconsiderable – the Mersey was a total loss, the Emerald and Melpomene in need of serious work (and replacement of casualties) and lesser damage to several other ships, including the Severn (which had been most closely involved with the final defeat of the Hartford and Cumberland). But the cost to the Union fleet was proportionately much worse – very much a consequence of the weakness of the Union squadron and the demand for action, Farragut's clever move could not achieve what he had hoped for.
The ultimate fate of the Roanoke upon arriving back in Baltimore was to immediately be designated for ironclad conversion – it being clear that the Union could not fight a conventional wooden war.
The battle disrupted operations against Fort Monroe, but only for one day. This allowed a little preparation to be done by the garrison, who surrendered the next day (on the 14th) after the destruction of the water battery by the Nile firing from close to the south face; all the guns at Fort Monroe were spiked and the powder detonated before the surrender of the fort, ensuring that the Confederates who would presumably come into possession of Fort Monroe would need to rebuild it. (In the event, earthwork batteries would be built behind the collapsed south wall and alongside the remains of the water battery, as well as smaller ones elsewhere, and the guns put into them would bear a suspicious resemblance to the guns of the Union vessels surrendered at Nautilus Shoal.)
(I've tried my best to reflect the capabilities of each ship. The basic problem the Union has is that, well, they have two frigates and a sloop for main steam combatants, plus two sail frigates, against a fleet considerably stronger than their entire navy of the previous year.
If they'd engaged against the whole force of the British squadron, they'd have been pretty thoroughly defeated; they might also have withdrawn into Baltimore, but I wasn't sure on that front and it would basically mean leaving Fort Monroe on the vine.
The other alternative would be for Farragut to basically retreat up the Potomac instead, to protect the capital - though he couldn't make it past Mattawoman Muds AFAICT.)