Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-04-07
rnK Less OF TaE HOUsAToNIC.
NaUaI 0tfeeT'S AceOHai of the AFair- Terrible
AgeEes IA NsUal Warfare.

NavaI 06iesT's AceOHnt of the AFair- Tsrribl,
Ageseg IN NGUGl Warfare.
From the Army and Navy Gazet,e
OFF CHARLESTON, February 22.-As his
tory of the recent disaster Of the United States
steamer HousAtonic may be of interest to your
readers, l viii attempt brief statement oI
facts:
On the evening Of February 18th, the Housa-
tonic wss anchored outside the bar, two and a
half miles from Breach inlet battery, aud five
miles and three-ffths from the ruins Of Sumter,
her usual station on the blockade. There was
/ but little wind CT sea, the sky was cloudless,
and The moOa shining brightly. A slight mist
rested on the water, not sufficient, however, 10
prevent our discerning other vessels on The
| blockade two or three miles away The usual
l0okouts were stationed on the forscastle, in the
| gang-wsy ard on tbs quarterback
At about S:45 of the first watch, the ofiser of
the deck discovered, while looking in ths diree-
ton of Breach Inlet Battery slight disturb
anee of ths water, like that produced by por-
1oise. At that time it appeared to be about
one hundred ysTds distant and a-bsam. The
| quafte1niaster examined il with his glass, snd
pronounced it schoIe of fish. As it was evil
IDENTIFY nearing The ship, orders were st once
/ given to slip the chain, beat to- quarters, aud
csll the captain. JuJt after issuing these orders
the masters mate from tbs forecasfle reported
the suspicious appearance to the officer in
charge, The officers and men were promptly
Hpen deck, but by this time the submarine ms
chine WAS so near Us that its form aud the
phosphoTsseent light produced by its motion
through the water were plainly visible. At the
call to quarters it had stepped, or nearly so,
and then moved towards the stern of the vessel
probably to avoid our broadside guns. When
the captain reached our deck, it was on our star.
N nd - L. I'll
tempss TO train gun on it were futile. Ssv-
eTsl shots were fred iRto it from revolVsrs and
rifles; it also received two charges Of buckshos
from the captains gun.
The chsin had bsen slipped and ths engines
had just begun to move, when the crash came,
throwing timbers and splinters into the ar, and
apparently Blowing Of the entire stern Of the
vessel. This Was immediately followed by =
fearful rushing Of water, the rolling cut of
dense, black smoke from the stack, and settling
Of the vessel
Orders we're at once given to clear away the
bOsls, and the men spraBg 70 the work with
viii But we were filing too rapidly. The
ship gavo g luTeh 10 port and al the boats o1
that side were sWamped. Many men and soma
officers Jumped overheard and clung TO such
portions Of the wreck IS came within reach
while others sought safety in the rigging and
tops. Fortunately Ne were in but tWenty-sight
feet Of water, and two of the boats on the star
board side were lowered. Most of those who
had jumped overheard were either picked up or
swan back TO the wreck. The two boats then
pulled for the Csnsndsigus, one and half miles
distant Assistance was promptly rendered by
that vessel to those remaining on the wreck
At muster the next morning. FIVE Of our num-
Der were found missing. The captain was
thrown several feet into the air By the force of
the explosion, aud was painfully but not dan
gerously bruised and cut.
II was the opinion of sll who ssE the strange
craft, that it was very nearly or entirely under
water, that there was no smokestack, that it
was from twenty to thirty feet in length, Ead
ihA. it wss noisless in her motion through sho
water. 1t was not seen afisr the explosion.
The ship was struck on the starbosTd side sbaft
the mizEsn-m&st. The force of the explosion
seem to have been msinly upward. A piece
ten feet square was blown out of her quarter
deck, all the beams and carlineS being broken
trsusversslY across. The heavy spanker boom
was broken in its thickest Psri, aud the water
for some distance was white with splintsrs of
oak and pine.
Probably not more than oro minute elapsed
from the time the torpedo was frst seen, until
we were struck, and not more than three or four
minutes could have passed between the explo-
sion and the sinking OF the ship. Had we been
struck in any other part, OF before the alarm
had been given the loss would have been much
greater.
The HousAtonie was a steam sl0op, with ton
mage of / $50, and she carried q battery of thir-
teea guns. She was completed about eighteen
months ago, and has been in tbs blockade ever
since. She is the first vessel destroyed by
eOnsrivsnce Of this character, and this fact gives
to this lsmentAble affair significance which it
would not otherwise possess. DsseTiers tell us
that there are othsT machines Of this kind IN the
hATbOr, resdy 10 come out, and that several more
are in process OF construction. The counfry
cannot attend too earnestly to the dangers which
threaten our blocksding feet, and the gunboais
and steamers on the Southern rivers.