Washington telegraph., 1864-01-13

n. "A
CLOCK on Sunday aftornoon, while furious
wind prevailed from the north west. the iron
| clad "eehawken, lying at the entrance of
charleston barbor. went down ut her anchor
age-went suddenly, swiftly and unaceount-
-aoiy TO the botton,-fnd carried with her to
horrible death beneath the waves, four OF her
engineers and twontysix of her crew
lhe above was the position of the feet when
tLe first signal of distress was made from the
Neehawken, at few minutes before two
| O'Clock. The sig al was seen and answered at
ONCE oy the hassnip, from which four boats
! were despatched to her assistance, and by the
south carolina, which sent two Of her boats to
the. .Weehawken's aid. The tugs Dandclion and
IRIS were also at once calltd up, and with them
Commander Duncan, Of the Weehawken, who
Glanced to be on the f. g-ship, ana in conver-
saton with the ADMIRAL when tie signal was
made, proceeded Immediately with the hope of
running his vessel on the beach He had
scarcely left tie Admiral when the officer of
the deck made out from the Weehswen IA new
aignal, and Immediately repor ed her to be
| sinking. moment after She settled swiftly
down by the head, earecnet over to starboard,
and disappeared beneath the waves
1t is Impossible To convey any idea of the
appalling nature of the disaster 1t came with
the suddenness of a thunderbot. When the
| first signal of distress was made no one OWNED
! how serious was the danger, ard when. at
length, the vessel went dowa, it was difficult
! for those who saw her disappear to credit ,vep
| the evidence of their own senses. The confu-
sion the flagship arisiiig rnainlr from tb.
difficulty of launching her boats, and the de-
sire of both officers and men to he first in
| them, was most Intense aud painfu The Wind
! Was hoN blowing Witi great fury, an;l the bo.ts
whicn FASTENED from al sides T. the scene .a
1 eountered great peril in picking up from tbs
water the few who had succeeded in getting
! away from the NIehawken before sIfe sank
AIN ost at the nC,aept she went down som
twenty or more sprang TO the boats and sue
ceeded IN getting away. As many Others were
rescued fromthe surging waves by the launches
of the flagship. the South Carolina and the
tugboats DaEdeliOn and Iris. Thirty perished
AL day the Weehawken had labored heavily
IN the sea, which kept her decks coustsntl '
submerSed. AID which frequently swept in
huge volumes into her forward hatch To-
wards noon the crew commenced tpa-iuy out
chain to ease her; but, accustomed as tEcv
were, in every gale, to the shipping Of such
seas, 1t Is believed that they hal grown conf
deut aud carole>. Of danger and paid no heed
to the encroaehrng waters until it was too late
10 resist them. They dreamed of TO peril till
the waves had fairly yawred h. s75llua them.
Then, when IL was known for a certainty that
the vessel was to be lost, panic Of lrgh, and
fear benumbrd them, d the terror stricken
crew below had lttle power ~ help theui-e ives
There were Ineu III irons between decks, and
the Sergeant1tt-Arms rushed franticaily away
to release th,m Poor fellows, they all went
, down. There were lGyaiils i'll the sick bay
and to their relief tie surgeon sent his stew
ard, who nerer retHrned. Thofe were iremeu
at the furnaces, to whom vain shrieks for $
helping hard al the pUrps was maGe. A few
of the confident were rushin : t. their quarter,
to save their effects, sting the timii ~ the
way to the deck to save themselves. Ii was il
the midst of scenes like these the Techawker
went down.
believe that none of the officers pcrs.. e
save the four assistant engineers, who ere
overtaken by the food hef, re they could max,
any effort to escape. Cor Duncan had ONLY
taken command Of tie iiHeehs vixen OIL Satur
day, having cen detached from the Paul lone:
to relieve Com'r Calhoun. The officers cloth
ing, the paymasteI's fu dS and the papers o
the ship, sank with her. The yecinun wa
brought alive board the fl gyhip, but die,
{ in spasms Il few mome,ts Gfterwarf. Variou!
parties we're picked up and taken to the near
est vessels, where every provision was made
for their comfort and restoration. Those of tn,
crew who ere saved are now scattered in small
squads throu. hout the heet. 1t is impossible,
: to procure at present the names of those VIII
e were lost.
e The Weshawken is lying in FIVE fathoms o
D water, and will soon be raised. Until she i
brought up, no one can tell with certainty why
che sank. 1t was through no fault of he
''overhang." for she apparently took in NJ
water except at her forward hatch and haws,
hole. 1t was, 10 the best of my knowledge
through the inattention, he lect and bad man
b agement of those Ga beard that the vessel wa
5 lost Had the pumps been eet at work wLer
, the waves first dashed in, it is probable tha
; the Weehawken would at this moment b,
o afioat. Had the bars with which her cqslpart
nents were made water-tight, been in thei
e proper places, it is quite likely that the dir
calamity would Lever have occu red Core
spondeace Of ". T. Herald. ..
:. -- gh
FRON ViEGINIA-Ricbnond Dee 12-Th