SUBMARINES AND TORPEDO BOATS, C. S. N.
[The following paper was prepared by James H. Tomb, Chief Engineer Confederate States Navy, and read before a meeting of the Association of Survivors of the Confederate States Navy held at the naval headquarters during the Reunion at Louisville, Ky., in 1905. He gives the origin of the term "David" as applied to the submarine and other torpedo boats constructed by the Confederates during the war and used against the blockading fleet off Charleston, S. C., and other Southern ports.]
The first torpedo boat to be called the "David" was built at Charleston, S. C., in 1863 by Capt. Tho. Stony Ravennel and other merchants of that city, but was not a submarine boat in any way. At the time this boat was being constructed Lieut. W. T. Glassel, C. S. N., Maj. Francis M. Lee, Engineer Corps, C. S. A.., and I, Chief Engineer C. S. N., had been experimenting with the first and second cutters of the Chicora with a torpedo attached to a spar projecting some ten feet from the bow and held in position seven feet below the surface by perpendicular rods at the bow and stern of the cutter. While the attachment was not just what we wanted, it did very well. The torpedo was made of copper and contained sixty-five pounds of rifle powder.
Lieutenant Glassel made three attempts with the first cutter to reach the monitors at anchor off Morris Island, and I made two in the second cutter; but in each case we had the same trouble and made the same report to Flag Officer Tucker —viz.: "We could not depend upon the crew pulling with any force when within sight of the enemy; and as each trip was made on the last of the ebb tide, so as to strike on the first of flood, we made no headway when we struck it, and so we had to return without accomplishing anything."
At this time the David was not quite ready. Captain Stony and others made application to Flag Officer Tucker for Lieutenant Glassel and myself to take charge of the boat and after attaching the torpedo make an attack on the United States steamship New Ironsides, the most powerful ship of the enemy lying off Charleston. Captain Stony named her the David from the great disparity between her and the duty she had to perform in the effort to destroy the Ironsides.
The David was built of wood in the shape of a cigar, fifty feet long by six feet beam midships. The boiler was forward and the engine aft. Between them was a cuddyhole for the officers and what other crew the boat might carry, which was entered by a hatchway. The hull was about half above water.
The torpedo was attached to a spar made of a three-inch boiler tube and was fixed in position before leaving the dock in Charleston, and it could be neither raised nor lowered after starting on the expedition. A two-bladed propeller drove the David about seven knots. The torpedo was of copper, having three tubes which contained a glass tube filled with sulphuric acid and fulminate, etc., between; the outside tube was of lead.
When ready for action the boat was so well submerged that nothing was visible except her smokestack, the hatch coamings, and frame holding the torpedo spar. Lieut. W. T. Glassel was in command. Under him were Engineer James H. Tomb, Fireman J. Sullivan, and Pilot W. Canners.
The Confederates desired very much to destroy the frigate New Ironsides. The night selected was October 5, 1863, about one year previous to the destruction of the Albemarle by Lieutenant Cushing, of the United States navy. There was a mist over the harbor when the David started. Running down the harbor well to the east, we passed through the fleet and
guard boats, reaching the Ironsides shortly before 9 p.m. As the flood tide had not yet set in, we laid off and on till 9 P.M., when it was thought best to run for the Ironsides before we were discovered. When within a short distance of her, and steaming about seven knots, they hailed us; but the only reply was a shot from a double-barreled gun in the hands of Lieutenant Glassel. The next moment we struck her some fifteen feet forward of the counter. The torpedo exploded, and the big frigate was shaken from stem to stern, but the explosion produced a bad effect on the David. The volume of water thrown up, passing down the smokestack, put out the fires and filled the body of the boat, as well as disabled the engine. Lieutenant Glassel then gave orders for each man to look out for himself, and we all went overboard. Lieutenant Glassel was picked up by a transport schooner, Sullivan by the Ironsides, and Canners, who could not swim, stuck to the David. I swam some distance down the harbor; but finding that my clothing was impeding my progress, and looking back and seeing that the David was still afloat, I
OLD TORPEDO BOAT AT NEW ORLEANS.
concluded to return and try to save her. After getting aboard I adjusted the machinery, started up the fires once more, and, helping the pilot aboard, proceeded up the harbor, turning between the Ironsides and a Monitor to prevent them from using their heavy guns on us in passing. The Ironsides fired three shots from her heavy guns, which passed over us.
All this time there was a heavy fire directed on the David from small arms from the deck of the Ironsides, riddling every part of the David above water. As we returned up the harbor we passed through the fleet and by the guard boats without further damage to us; and rounding under the stern of the flagship, I made my report to Flag Officer Tucker with nothing on but my undershirt.
The damage to the Ironsides was not as serious as it would have been had the torpedo been eight feet below the surface in place of six and a half, as was intended; but finding a flaw in the tube we had for a spar, it was necessary to bring it up that much. There was some serious damage done to her hull, however, as she did not fire another shot on Charleston and was sent North later for repairs.
I was put in comand of the David and had one-quarter inch of steel placed over the hull above the water line, a cap put over the stack to prevent water from passing down, and arranged the spar so that we could lower it to any depth from the inside or keep the torpedo above the surface.
When the David was ready for service, I was sent to North Edisto to make an attack on the United States steamship Memphis, Engineer Tomb in charge, with Pilots Canners and Acosta and Fireman Lawless. A section of artillery under Captain Stony was sent ahead to assist the David. On the night of March 4, 1864, we reached a point just above the anchorage of the Memphis, whose light was plainly seen; but the feed pipe gave out, and we decided to return up the river. The next night about 11:30 P.M., when in about the same position, the pump again gave out; but making fast to the marsh, we repaired the pump and proceeded on down in the direction of the Memphis. About 12:30 a.m. of the 6th we came within hailing distance, but paid no attention to the hail, and they began firing upon us with small arms; but the shot, striking the steel shield, passed off without doing any injury to the boat or crew. The next moment the David struck her on the port quarter under the counter, the engine of the David backing at the time. The blow was a fine one, but the torpedo failed to explode. We then made a turn to port and came back at her on the starboard side; but as the Memphis had been working ahead, we passed under her counter, carrying away a portion of the David's stack, made a glancing blow, and again failed to explode the torpedo. Failing in our last attack, we decided to return to Church Flats and examine the torpedo, etc. As we steamed back up the river the Memphis made use of her heavy guns, but all the shot passed well over us and did no damage.
Reaching Church Flats and making an examination of the torpedo, we found that the first blow was a good one, as the tube containing the acid Was mashed flat, but, being defective, had failed to explode. The other one was not a good blow, as the lead tube on the outside was bent the least bit, but the tube containing the acid was not broken. The torpedo contained ninety-five pounds of rifle powder, thirty pounds more than we used on the Ironsides; and had the tube been perfect, we would haye blown the whole stern from the Memphis.
The David returned to Charleston, and while on duty, passing out beyond Fort Sumter at night, did not make another attack on the blockading ships, except on one night in April, when we ran out of Charleston, intending to strike the United States steamship Wabash; but there was such a heavy swell that in heading for the Wabash the sea would roll on board the David, and she came so near sinking that we were compelled to return to Charleston. We headed for the Wabash three times.
The David had orders to tow the submarine torpedo boat commanded by Lieutenant Dixon past Fort Sumter whenever he wished to run out to make an attack on the blockaders, and in towing him out we came near being blown up by his torpedo getting adrift. I advised Lieutenant Dixon to «se the torpedo just as it was used by the David, as I did not think his boat had sufficierit power to back out if it was submerged, and the suction from the sinking ship would be apt to keep him under the water. Lieutenant Dixon gave me to understand that he would remain on the surface. I requested Flag Officer Tucker to relieve the David from the duty of.towing his boat on account of the danger. That same month Lieutenant Dixon ran out of Charleston and, striking the United States steamship Housatonic, sank her, and he was lost, with all on board the torpedo boat, as she went to the bottom with the Housatonic.
When we think of the number of brave men who lost their lives on this ill-fated craft, it brings out the fine qualities of Lieutenant Dixon, who in all this never lost confidence
either in the boat or himself. There were in all thirty-three lost in her from her first appearance at Mobile to the sinking of the Housatonic. The army or the navy had no more gallant officer than Lieutenant Dixon, of the C. S. A..
The following is the official report as to the condition of the Ironsides, showing how serious was the damage caused by the David:
"U.S. S. New Ironsives, orF Morris Istanp, S. C., November 24, 1863.
"Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, U. S. N—Sir: In obedience to your orders, I have examined the injuries discovered in the coal bunkers resulting from the attack made on the ship by the Rebel torpedo boat David on the night of the sth ult., and found them to be as follows: One hanging knee abreast the engine room started off ten inches from clamp and ceiling, two-stroke clamps and five-stroke carlings broken in two in a perpendicular line. The hanking knee is started entirely from the beam and the beam badly smashed. The fore and aft piece that forms the engine room is split for a space of about four feet and likewise started from the ends of the spur beams from three to four inches; six of the lap knees are also started. The stanchions that support the fore and aft pieces of the engine room, and likewise form the coal bunkers, are entirely gone at the heads; the ceiling is started off from the frame of the ship for a space of ten feet both forward and aft of the hanging knee; forward of the knee where the ceiling forms a butt it has started ten inches from the ship frame, and the side of the ship is sprung in from four to five inches for a space of forty feet.
"When the ship was examined by the divers outside, they reported that the planking abreast the engine room was shattered for a space of six feet in depth to ten or twelve feet in length and about one and a half inches in the face of the planking. The oakum is also started in the seams. In examining the gun and berth decks I find the spaketing and waterways on both decks started in three inches for a space of twenty feet. The bulkheads and shelving of the storerooms abreast the engine room were entirely knocked down. The stanchions that support the fore and aft pieces that form the engine room on gun deck were carried away at the heels, carrying the joiner work with them. The stanchions that support the spar deck around the engine room were jumped out of the iron sockets by the shock.
"The waterway on the gun deck abreast of the engine room is started from the deck three-quarters of an inch for a space of thirty feet, causing the deck to leak badly. The above injuries were all caused by the explosion of the torpedo.
"In my opinion, this ship ought to be docked as soon as she can possibly be spared from this harbor.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
T. H. BrsHop, Carpenter, U. S. N."
The illustration given with this article is of the old torpedo boat now on the grounds of Camp Nicholls Confederate Home, New Orleans. It is said to have been the first ever made by Captain Hunley, and in a test made just before the Federals took Spanish Fort it sank at the mouth of Bayou St. John, three sailors losing their lives in trying the boat. In 1878 the boat was excavated from the mud and was left under the trees by the bayou for twenty years, then taken to New Orleans. It is a prototype of the torpedo boat Hunley, which sank the Federal battleship Housatanic in Charleston Harbor in 1864.