Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-01-26

OF laui JONES. the affair with tn
, Confederate ram Albeinarlc. off tn
mouth Of the Roanoke River on tL
9th of May. 1854. may b" set down Il.
the braye,t and laust determined ac
ton between vessels aioat in an,
war for the last hundred wears
Nothing in the naval history of TT,
rope approaches it, and ndcircllm,tanc,x
will never bring about another eucl
action on TIN, 81 l.. Of the ocean.
Whcn the keel of the Allenarls
waa laid the Cunfr,icracy wa, lar,
up for monry. had lost all hope, u
foreign Intervention. and tlulisand>
of lis soldiers were discouraged. The
work of building such Il craft at tha,
time WAS an lnInclisc undertaking
and even in semi uiiicial circles il WIS
not believed that She would ever h,
l,fn;: he'd
First and last 2o0O men We're Ell.
gagged in her construction. What
ever faults had been pointed ont in
ether rams Wcr" avuluru III ihr Abe
marie. Jhr Material for the ram
was gathered from all point, Of tine
tuni"u"racy. and outside uf the work
Of detailed soldiers and men fur
hI-h"d by tn" contractors. there were
employed some of the most skilled
ilnrianir, that gold cuilld induce 10
take hold. Instead OF hurrying t.
get Lrr alloat. the work progressed 80
~lnwl ly that an ,ilicial invest, cation
Wa, lrln;:ndrd However, when ail"at
anI armed. the Aih,inarlr was. with
ont doubt. the most perfect craft of
| til" sort rvrrcnn-tructru There WAS
n part Of the hull above water which
WIS not defended 10y Il thickness of at
| least twelve inches oi IRON and back
ing. and at certain points there was
an ;rInor eighteen inches thick.
The ram was armed with two of
the heaviest Brooke guns. 50 mounted
that each om. constl,utrd;i Il hroa,lsItc.
TIN" convrnirncrs for serving these
guns We're ;.dylir;blc Her screw
wheel WAS sunk 50 as to h. out Of
reach of shot. and her stem WAS 50
>tuutly constructed that she would
hav" been abl"tn open il gap III the
side uf the stoutcst iron clad in the
mon Navy.
There WAS Il fleet of eight Federal
gun boat, in the Sound. and the ap-
prar;ncr of the Allrnarlr WAS daily
looked for lon:, cn"uyh before She
hove IN sight. D,,crtrr, mad reported
her coistrut tlui. armament. drauTht
ana power of engines. and every
preparation had been made for Il
terrific. fight Admiral Lee had To-
rcl>rd general instruction, from the
Secretary of the Navy. and had issued
particular instructions To his fleet.
At three u'cIurk in the afternoon
The AlhcmHrir Wiz discovered coming
down for the fleet, She had with her
a tc:iu,r allied the Hnmh,hcll. mount
lnr one gun. and Il river steamer from
which She WAS To- draw coal and pro
visions in ease Of winning Il victory
and being in condition to 90 10 sea.
The Federal fleet immediately 90:
under way and stood up 10 meet the
ram. and as soon ;i> they came within
firing distance the fight opened. The
commander of the ram knew exactly
what he had to deal with. having the
name and armament Of every steamer
in the fleet; whilcun the Federal side
the Albrmarlc was credited with hav
ing four more guns than she really
had. and To- be armed with Il spar and
torpedo.
Every vessel in the Federal fleet
WAS damaged. with one exception.
that the Hull. which was not once
fired Oh. Some idea may be gathered
of how terrific was this battle from
this description of the duel between
the MAMA and the Albrmarlc:
'Thr Federal gun boat MIama was
armed With Il spar and torpedo. and
twice during the fight she made
efforts To reach the ram and blow her
up. The design WAS follcd both
times hy the easy manmrr III which
the Allrmarlc worked. and because
her pilots had been warned in advance
that the Miami was thus prepared
Finding that her shot at muskrt
range bounded off the ram like peas
from Il pane of glass. the EUnboat
steamed up 50 clos" that an apple
could have been tossed aboard and
then poured in shot and she'll as fast
us her guns could hc worked. Not
one of the missiles even entered the
outer armur of the strange monster. |
while some of them broke in pieces
and bounded back with sufficient |
force to disable the "llnncrs VIII" had
fired them. At on" stage of the fight |
the Miami remained within 100 feet |
of the ram for thirteen minutes. and
gave her Il shot every twelve seconds.
She fired l2o shot. all six and Einr-
inch. the former having chilled end,
and driven by ten pounds of powder.
and yet not one of these shot pr"
,lucrd the least damage. The Miami
received seven or eight shot from the
Aihrmarlr. and had nearly all her
bulkhrals knocked into kindlings |
and her decks pretty we'll cleared of |
which could he carried
away. One Of her worst injuries waS
inflicted by Il she'll from on" Of her
own guns. which rrboundrd from the
ram To HOT tltth d1itt tltIt tAiht"tt;- |
She WIS leaking badly when the fight |
WIS ended. but She had passed |
through such fight as would have
shaken the nerves of Il Nelson Every |
missile which struck her WAS distinct
~ felt hy every man aboard, and as
beam. braces and huikhca,ls We're
rivrn and splintrrd it seemed as if
the vessel WAS pounding on reef"
1t WAS getting too dark too see to
train the guns before the ram lett the
field For more than three hours
she had fought the whole Federal
fleet single handed. and now retired
ot her u"n Will After 4 o'clock : he
could have steamed cut to sea i'll
spite "f all opposition. but her tender
had surrendered and the steamer from
which she WAS t. he cualcd and pro
vi>iunrd had run away t" avoid cap
tnrr. The Allrmarle had not
sufficient coal aboard to last her SIX
hours. and only ur"vi>lon, enough
r. -, .,,., r.,ti,p NIiIn II ,.uuutt In.