This day in Charleston
2 entries · 1863
The department forwarded its analysis to Richmond: the failure to blow up the New Ironsides was probably due to the smallness of the charge — seventy pounds — against a ship whose side at the point struck was reckoned at least five feet thick.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 28, Pt. 1
Two days after the David’s attack the Confederates worked out the arithmetic: seventy pounds of powder against a ship whose side, at the depth struck, was reckoned five feet thick. Captain Francis D. Lee, who had designed the torpedo, consulted experts and concluded the solid material at the point of impact “could not have been much short of 30 feet.” The next boat would carry a bigger charge.
Official Records, Series I, Vol. 28, Pt. 1
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