The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-19

SINKING OF THE INTERNATIONALLY,
New York Herald, of the 18th, publishes
the following account of the sinking of til,
Weehawken during storm at the en-
trance of Charleston harbor:
At two o'clock on Sunday afternoon
while furious wind prevailed from tn,
ing at the entrance of Charleston harbor
went down at her anchorage-went sud
denly, swiftly and unaccountably to tn
bottom-and carried with her, to & horri
BILE death beneath the waves, four OF he
engineers and twenty-six of her crew.
Saturday had been a bright and beauti
fu1 day, with scarcely breath of air astir
ring the night q breeze sprung up, anC
the wind, blowing freshly ut daylight or
Sunday, increased by noon TO a violent
storm.
! The iron-clad feet was lying meantime
at its usual anchorage. The frigate New
Ironsides was stationed off Morris Island
at distance Of about one mile due easl
Fort Strong. North of the Ironsides lay
the flagship Philadelphia, distant about
four hundred yards. The Weehawken
was next in line, anchored two or three
hundred yards to the northward of the
| flagship. The Montauk was on picket
duty between Fort Sumter and Fort Moul-
trie. Astern of the Ironsides lay the Ma
hant and Passaic the latter farthest away
from the flagship, and nearer than any
| other vessel to the Morris Island Shore
The South Carolina and the Home were
| rocking on the restless tide some five or
six hundred yards astern of the iron
clads.
The above was tho position of the feet
when the first signal of distress was made
l. OF, rox,-
fore two o'clock. The signal was seen and
| answered at once by the flagship, from
which four boats were dispatched to her
assistance, and by the South Carolina,
which sent two of her boats to the We
| hawken's aid. The tugs Dandelion and
Iris were also at once called up, and with
them Commander Duncan, of the Wee
hawken, who CHANGED to be on the flag
ship, and in conversation with the Admit
raj, when the signal was made, proceeded
Immediately, with the hope of running his
vessel on the beach. He had scarcely left
the Admiral when the officer of the deck
made out from the Weehawken new sig
nal, and Immediately reported her to be
sinking.
A moment after she settled swiftly down
by the head, careened slightly over to the
starboard, and disappeared beneath the
waves.
1t is impossible to convey any idea of the
appalling nature of this disaster. 1t came
with the suddenness Of thunderboit.-
When the first signal Of distress was made
no one OWNED how serious was the dan
ger, and when, at length, the vessel went
down, it was difficult for those who saw
her disappear to credit even their own
senses. The confusion on the flagship.
arising mainly from the difficulty Of
launching her boats, and the desire of both
officers and men to be the first in them,
FIJI i
was now blowing with great fury, and the
boats which fastened from all sides to the
scene encountered great peril in picking up
from the water the few who had succeeded
IN getting away from the Weehawken before
she sank. Almost at the time she went down
sometWenty or more sprang to the boats and
succeeded In getting away. AS many 9TH
ers were rescued from the surging waves
by the launches OF the flagship, the South
Carolina and the tug boats DardeliOn and
Iris. Thirty persisted.
All day the Weehawken had labored
heavily in the sea, which kept her decks
constantly submerged, and which frequent
~ swept III huge volumes into her forward |
hatch. Towards noon the crew commence
ed paying out chain, to case her; but &C
cuStOmed as they were, in every gale, to |
the shipping of such sea, ii is believed that |
they had grown confident and careless oil
danger, and paid no heed to the encroach- |
ing waters until it was too late to resist |
them. They dreamed of no peril till the |
waves had fairly yawned to swallow them. |
Then, when it was known fora certainty |
that the vessel was TO be lost panic Of
fright and fear benUmbed them, and the |
terror-stricken crew below had little DOW.
er to help themselves. There were men in |
irons between decks, and the sergeant-at-
arms rushed frantically away to release |
them. Poor fellows, they all went down.
There were invailds i'll the sick bay, and to |
their relief the surgeon sent his steward, !
who never returned. There were tiremen
at the furnaces, to whom vain Shrieks for a |
helping at the pumps were made. a few |
OF the confident were rushing to their quar- !
ters to save their effects, Ijostling the timid |
1t was in the midst of scenes like these that |
the Weehawkcn went down.
l believe that none OF the officers perish |
ed, save the four assistant engineers who |
were overtaken by the flood before they |
could make any effort to escape. Com
mander Duncan had only taken command
OF the Weehawken on Saturday having
been detached from the Paul Jones to re-
lleve Commander Calhoun. The officers
the paymaster's funds and the pa
pers of the shi p sunk with her.
The yeoman was brought alive on board |
the flagship, but died i'll spasms few mo-
ments afterwards. Various parties were
up anu tthcn ~ Tie nearest vessels,
where every provision was made for their
comfort and restoration. Those OF The crew
who were saved are now scattered in small
squads throughout the feet. 1t is impos-
sible to procure at present the names OF
hose who were lost.
The Weehawken is laying in five faith
0ms of water, and Will soon be raised. I'm
i'll she is brought up, no one can tell with
why she sunk. 1t was through
no fault of her ''overbang;" for she appa-
emily took i'll no water at her forward hatch
md hawse hole. 1t was, to the best of my
through the inattention, neg
ect and bad management OF those on board
hat the vessel has been lost. Had the
pumps been set at work when the waves
irst dashed in, it is probable that the Wee
lawken would at this moment have been
float. Had the bars with which her COM
,artments were made water-tight been in
heir proper places, it is quite likely that
he dire calamity would never have occur
ed.
Mr.. Falcon, practical diver, left Hilton
lead, this morning, for the scene of the
disaster. He had engaged passage to New