Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-05-01

ing to a keen edge. One blow from
that beak would. he believed. send to
the bottom any wooden ship aioat-
The Ran's Crushing Blow.
Seeing the maneuver of the enemy to
entrap him. Captain Cooke sheered to
the shore. where bis vessel had sufi-
cient depth. since she drew but eight
feet of water; then. suddenly turning
the beak toward midstream. crashed
into the Southield.. Having the up
the current. which was very swift.
and at the ome of turning the en-
CINE throttles were thrown wide open.
The rams blow was terrific and
made a hole In the South6eld which let
in enough water to sink her instantly
had she been loose from her consort
and the ram. AS 1t was. the beak OF
the ram broke through the ~starboard
bow of the SouthfieId. penetrating to
the 1reroom and entangling the ram
with her victim. So far did the rams
PROV enter the side of the Southfeld
that her forward chain plates caught
on the ends of broken timbers. and the
sinking boat carried the monster down
until water flowed into her ports like
a sea.
Fortunately for Captain Cooke, the
sinking S~outhtield soon touched on the
bottom and. turning her top toward
shore. wrenched herself loose from the
rams chains. As soon as the Abe
marie was free from the embrace of
her sinking victim she came to an even
keel and found herself alongside the
Miami. whose rapidly delivered mis-
sileD produced barely a dent in the two
inch iron plates.
Fatal Rebound Of a Shell.
Flusser thought that be had the ran
just where he wanted her In spite of
the fact that he had lost one ship In
the encounter. The vessels were SO
close that he fired a shell with a ten
second fuse against the straight iron
shield confronting the muzzle of bis
gun. Pulling the lanyard himself. he
was torn to pieces by his own shell be-
lVlC Ic TAU ILL ~ 0iOP lht a vi
the shot. striking the iron plate at a
straight angle. rebounded to the start
ing point and burst over the gun which
fred it.
Even the death of the heroic com
mander and the loss of a cOnsort lie
not crush the fighting spirit of the
Miami's crew. Boarders were called
away instantly. and the eager men
rushed to the rail TO jump to the broad
decks of the RAM. but the Confederate
tars were equally alert. With muskets
loaded below and handed up they
poured a fearful storm of bullets upon
the gallant fellows of the Miami.
With the repulse of the boarders fur
Their fighting on the part of the Miami
was hopeless. Being a swift side
wheeler. she turned easily and sue
ceeded in lodging the beak of the RAM.
As she sped down the river she fired
with every gun that would bear on the
victorious am.
Storming and Fall of Plymouth.
At last the Roanoke river was clear
ed of Federal vessels. n General
Hoke promptly put new vigor into his
operations on land. His troops had
assailed Fort Warren on the 18th. The
Bombshell came to the assistance of
the garrison. but was soon disabled by
a shell and fell into the hands of the
enemy.
Fort Warren held out. and Hoke
next attacked Fort Vessels. Al
though charge after charge was re-
pulsed. the Confederates were able to
surround the work with superior num-
bers. and on the 10th that work sur
rendered. Abreast of the town along
the river was a long line Of breast
works connected by redoubts, the
strongest of which was Fort Williams,
Hoke brought his batteries to within
LOO yards of the works. Sending
General Matthew Ransom. with his
North Carolina brigade. to assail the