CSS Albemarle - Service On The Roanoke

Service On The Roanoke

In April 1864 the newly commissioned Confederate States Steamer Albemarle, under the command of Captain James W. Cooke, got underway down-river toward Plymouth, North Carolina; its mission was to clear the river of all Union vessels so that General Robert F. Hoke's troops could storm the forts located there. She anchored about three miles (5 km) above the town, and the pilot, John Lock, set off with two seamen in a small boat to take soundings. The river was high and they discovered ten feet of water over the obstructions that the Union forces had placed in the Thoroughfare Gap. Captain Cooke immediately ordered steam and, by keeping to the middle of the channel, they passed safely over the obstructions. The ironclad's armor protected them from the Union guns of the forts at Warren's Neck and Boyle's Mill.

However, two paddle steamers, USS Miami and USS Southfield, lashed together with spars and chains, approached from up-river, attempting to pass on either side of Albemarle in order to trap her between them. Captain Cooke turned heavily to starboard, running dangerously close to the southern shore, and got outboard of Southfield. Turning back sharply into the river, he rammed the Union sidewheeler, driving her under; Albemarle's ram became trapped in Southfield's hull from the force of the blow, and her bow was pulled under as well. As Southfield sank she rolled over before settling on the riverbed; this action released the death grip that held the new Confederate ram.

Miami fired a shell into Albemarle at point-blank range while she was trapped by the wreck of Southfield, but the shell rebounded off Albemarle's sloping iron armor and exploded on Miami, killing her commanding officer, Captain Charles W. Flusser. Miami's crew attempted to board Albemarle to capture her but were soon driven back by heavy musket fire; Miami then steered clear of the ironclad and escaped into Albemarle Sound.

With the river now clear of Union ships, and with the assistance of Albemarle's rifled cannon, General Hoke attacked and took Plymouth and the nearby forts.

On 5 May Albemarle and CSS Bombshell, a captured steamer, were escorting the troop-laden CSS Cotton Plant down the Roanoke River; they encountered four Union warships: USS Miami, now supported by USS Mattabesett, USS Sassacus, and USS Wyalusing. All four ships combined mounted more than sixty cannons. Albemarle opened fired first, wounding six men working one of Mattabesett 's two 100-pounder Parrott rifles, and then attempted to ram her, but the sidewheeler managed to round the ironclad's armored bow. She was closely followed by Sassacus, which then fired a broadside of solid 9-inch (229 mm) and 100-pound shot, all of which bounced off Albemarle's casemate armor. However, Bombshell, being a softer target, was hulled by each heavy shot from Sassucus 's broadside and was quickly captured by Union forces, following her surrender.

Lieutenant Commander Francis Asbury Roe of Sassucus, seeing Albemarle at a range of about 400 yards (370 m), decided to ram. The Union ship struck the Confederate ironclad full and square, broadside-on, shattering the timbers of her own bow, twisting off her own bronze ram in the process, and jamming both ships together. With Sassucus's hull almost touching the end of the ram's Brooke rifle, Albemarle' gun crew quickly fired two point-blank rifled shells, one of them puncturing Sassucus's boilers; though live steam was roaring through the ship, she was able to break away and drift out of range. Miami first tried to use her spar torpedo and then to tangle the Confederate ram's screw propellers and rudder with a seine net, but neither ploy succeeded. More than 500 shells were fired at Albemarle during the battle; with visible battle damage to her smokestack and other areas on the ironclad, she easily steamed back up the Roanoke the victor, soon mooring at Plymouth.