Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-03-26

down with the ship, but the rest were
saved. The plank disappeared, and 1t
was never known in the Federal navy
what had happened until after the war.
When the lost ship was raised, the tor
pedo boat was found lying half buried
in the sand, with her crew Of seven
coffined in her iron ribs.
Submarine torpedoes and mines were
used by the Confederates quite extern
sively during the last years Of the war.
They had no power to cope with the
Federal ships, and in 1862 legalized
this method Of warfare. Beauregard
was an enthusiastic believer in it, and
had he been allowed his way New Or
leans would not have fallen under Far
ragut's attacks. The first vessel de-
stroyed by torpedoes was the Federal
ironelad Cairo in the Yazoo river. In
ascending the river she took the middle
of the channel and ran against a torpedo
made out Of a five gallon glass demijohn
and went down in IL minutes All
hands escaped. The designer of that
machine prepared several automatic ac-
tion torpedoes fcr the Yazoo, and one of
these destroyed the ironclad Dekalb.
During the war the United States
lost 2 ironclads and l ! wooden ships of
war besides numerous small vessels
The Confederates lost only the ram AL
bemarle by Federal torpedo but two
Of their steamers struck their own tor
pedoes in Charleston harbor, and boat
in the James met a similar fate.
This new and frightful method Of
warfare found heroes ready to face it
with all its terrors. In the battle of Mo-
bile Bay Farragut immortalized him
self by shouting out when warned that
torpedoes lay in the pathway Of his flag
ship while flanking the enemy's forts;
oh the torpedoesl Go aheadp'
There was reason for some hesitancy on
the part of the ship commanders, for
the noble Tecumseh had just gone to
the bottom, carrying down with her her
gallant and chivalrous commander,
Captain Z. A. M. Craven, with 80
officers and men of her crew. Craven had
begged the honor of taking care of the
noted ram Tennessee, which was more
dreaded by the Federal feet than all
the forts and regular warships put to-
gether.
The ram lay under the guns of fort
while the fleet was ascending the chan
mel, but at the proper time steamed out
to take hand. Craven saw her black,
piratical bull. He knew, as did all the
captains of Farragut's feet, that the
bay was planted with explosives, and
also the line beyond which it was unsafe
to go.
But in his eagerness to tackle the
ram and put her out of the fight he
crossed the line and struck upon an in
fernal machine that caused the Tecum
sch to careen and sink at once. Craven
was in the ships turret with the pilot
when the explosion took place. Both
looked up to the hatch reached bya sim
gle ladder and the pilot motioned his
captain to go up and save himself.
"After you, pilot, - said the brave sail
or The pilot escaped, but before Craven
was half way out of the turret he was
hurled back by the ocean of water pour
ing down the hatch.
IJ1tuitIhub ohsIltiS ChAulltu an AIb
risk of being "hoist by his own petard"
and of running his neck into a moose
when he set out to blow up the Confed-
crate ram Albemarle in the Roanoke.
He had to ascend the river from Able
marie sound, and as the latter water was
Federal territory the Confederates up
the river were on guard against secret
forays. The river was picketed and for
all Cushing knew planted with Internal
machines. He intended to flank the
ram, which he had learned was moored
at the wharf at Plymouth, get ON board
and blow her up.
For his dangerous work Gushing was
provided with launch carryinga small
crew and having attached a spar tor
pedo, That was really reserve weap-