The Opelousas courier., 1870-10-08

~ Aoo4 tne Meet OF Admiral os sarragut was
attack was directed against Ch;!edston
; ingenuity had be Gu expended b tie Confeder-
Ates upon torpedoes apd torpet eeoats.
The most remarkable Of the. Oboats was con-
structed in Mobile by MessrsSedundley s. Nc
Clintock, and launched in lar4 =; and nothing
which has gone down into the sea was more
wonderfully and more fearfully contriye ed to
wreak destruction and vengeance upon friend
and foo.
She was built Of boiler iron, and impervious
to water or. air Her extreme length was about
; thirty feet, with FIVE or six feet beam and about
Six feet depth of hold. In general contour she
resembled cigar, sharp at both ends. She was
| propelled by u screw, the shaft Of which ran
horizontally along her hold, almost from stem
| to stern, and was turned by the manual force
OF eight men, seated along it on either side
! feet in diameter, with low eombing around it.,
which was placed we'll forward and when de-
sired could be closed by an iron cap vol king on
! hinges and made air-tight.
In the forward part of this cap was inserted a
clear glass bulls eye, through which the pilot
could see She was provided with water-tight
| compartments, by filling or implying which she
would sink or rise, and to enable her to rise in
stantly her bailasting OF railroad bars vas plac-
| ed on her bottom, outside of her hull, and by
| means OF keys, accessible to her crew, could be
| detached in a moment, SO that she would rise
quickly to the SURFACE.
Besides her rudder, which was of the usual
form. this vessel was equipped with side pad
| des or fms which like those OF fish, served o
| guide it up or down with reference to the sur
| face of the water.
To prepare for action hcating torpedo was
secured to her stern by II line more than one
hundred feet long and her crew havn" en-
barSed, the water tanks were filled until the
boat was i'll e1uilibro, and almost submerged.
The hatchway was closed, the men revolv ed
the shaft t.:c captain pilot standing under
+ tlnh hot nk.G hpS Hath of thn
same time by th., action Of her lateral tiins the
depth at which she would move.
Her greatest speed Iii! not exceed four knots.
She could remain submerged for half ar hour,
her crcw-aud on one occasion has been known
| to remain under water two hours, without ac-
tual injury to them; although 10 means were
provided for procuring fresh air, and from the
| moment the hatch was closed, the. men 1''us
fastened in their living tomb, inhaled and OK
hailed continuously the atmosphere which was
| inclosed with them.
| The plan of attack proposed by the inventors
was to dive beneath the keel of AL enelnys ship,
hauling the torpedo after her. Its triggers or
| sensitive primers would thus press against the
ships bottom, explode the torpedo and inevita-
| bly, sink the ship.
Not anticipating an early opportunity Of
using this dangerous vessel against the fleet Of
Farragut, Gen. Maury sent her by rail to Gen.
| Beauregard ut Charleston, believing the waters
OF that harb0r better suited to her peculiar con-
struction, while i'll the lronsides. or some other
| gigantic war ship then attacking Charleston,
might be found an object worth the great risk
| to which her own crew was exposed i'll any en-
terprise they might undertake in her.
Gen. Beauregarl changed the arrangement
of the torpedo BY fastening it to the bow. Its
| front was terminated by q sharp and barbed
lance head, so that when the boat was driven
end on against y ships sides, the lance head
would be forced deep into the timbers below
the water line, and would fasten the torpedo
l <haS Thn,, thn In hOn
| would back of and explode it by lanyard.
| Gen. Beauregard's call upon the Confederate
feet of volunteers to man this dangerous craft,
was promptly answered by Lieut.. Payne, a
ready for action and the evening set for
| their expedition, the last preparation had been
made. The torpedo boat was lying alongside
the steamer from which the crew had embarked
| she has submerged till the cOmbing of her hatch
alone was visible above the water. Her com
manier, Payne, was standing In the hatchway,
in the act Of ordering her to be cast OH, when
| the swell of q passing steamer rolled over hel
several fathoms of water. Lieut.. Payne sprans
out of the hatchway "a the boat sunk from un
der him, and he alone was left alive.
In the course of a few days she was raised
and again made ready for service. Again Payne
volunteered, and eight mon with him.
q The embark ation for their second attempt was
| made from Fort Sumter, and as before. all hav
ing been made ready, Payne standing at hl'
post in the hatchway, ordered the hawser TO bt
cast off-when the boat careened and sunk ms
tantly PAYNE sprang out, two of the men tol
lowed him; the other six went down i'll the boat
and perished.
i Again the boat was raised and made ready fo'
action, and her owner, Capt. Hundley, took hel
for an experimental trip Into the Stsno River
where, after going through her usual evolutions
she dived i'll deep water, and tor hours; ana iol
days, the return of poor Hundley and his ere"
was watched for and looked for in vain. Aftel
near a weeks search she was found inclinng a
an angle of forty degrees; her nozzle was driver
deep into the soft mud of the bottom. Her ere"
4 of nine dead men were standing, sitting, lying
+ about in her held asphixisted; HuDdley wai
standing dead at his post, u candle in one hand
while the other had grown stiff with death II
his vain efforts to ancluulp the hatch Other
had been working ut the keys OF the ballast
but the inclination at which the boat nad goh'
down had ,jammed the keys 80 that the niei
could not cast off the heavy weight which heit
them down. Their deaths had been hard ant
lingering. .""
Again this fateful vessel was made ready fo
action, aud volunteers being called tor, Lieut.
Dixon, Twenty First Alabama Volunteers ma
tive of Mobile, and eight men, volunteered t.
take her against the enemy
III The new and,powerful war ship, Housatonic
Was selected for attack; and on q quiet mgn
the bravest crew set out from Charleston, IL
this terribIet nameless torpedo boat, that eve
manned craft before. -.
We all know the fate Of the Housatonic
=
her, the explosion tore up the great war ship
sides, 80 that she went down with nearly all he
crew within two minutes. 's-~
The torpedo vessel also disappeared foreve
Il from mortal view. Whether she went dow
IL with her enemy, or whether she drifted out t.
b sea 10 bury her gallant dead, was never known
II and their fate was left till the great day whe
II the sea shall give up its dead - :,
a But within Q few weeks past, divers IN sui
!, marine armor have visited the wreck OF tn
! Housatonic, and they have found the little toi
q pedo vessel lying by her hugo victim, and within
! her are the bones Of the most devoted and da'
inr men who ever went to war. No forlorn hop
or other desperate enterprise Of war can furnis
1the parsilel to the courage Of Dixon and n,
! comrades. Their names we have not at hand
but they are known and recorded, and We hop
to see the honor which is due paid to the grea
virtue they illustrated D. .. NJ
+. FAT Vienna, says the independents
Beige. . manufacturey has carried on
y the happy idea of priyting pscket hand
Ikerchieis with mapsof the theatre OF To
war. They have been 2 great success
! b.. 80 snn "a m4a nNEA 1fff