The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-10-01
SERVED ON SUBMARINES
IN CHARLESTON t1ARBOR
Lieut.. Stanton Describes Some Exploits of the
Fishboat and the David-Several Crews
Were Drowned in the Former.

I channel close in there to prevent
the arrival and departure OF BLOCK
ade runners. The boat failed to
return, but early the next morning
/ when day broke We could see the
masts of the Housatonic projecting
from the water and the rigging
! filed with her men, who were q
few hours later removed by boats
from the Federal blockading fleet.
The little boat was never seen again
until after the war closed, when the
Housatonic was raised to clear the
channel, and it was found near her
with the bow pointing toward the
ship.
Lieut.. Payne, although a willing
volunteer for this dangerous SER
vice, never at any time had faith in
the success of the enterprise. l
heard him say time and again that
if he struck vessel with the tor
pedo staff projecting horizontally he
feared the boat would enter the hole
made by the explosion in the ship S
side and the machinery would not be
powerful enough to back the boat
out before it was carried down by
the wreck. His idea was that if the
torpedo staff was lowered to an
angle of As degrees when the ship
was struck the torpedo would ex-
plode near the keel, and the Fish
boat bow, striking the solid plank
ing of the ship, would recoil sufti-
ciently to make the machinery effec-
tive in backing out of danger of be-
ing drawn down by the wreck. l
have always felt very certain that
the torpedo staff was in this posi-
! ton when the Housatonic was
struck. have seen it stated that the
Fishboat dived under the Housa-
tonic and dragged floating torpe-
do after it. This is disproved by
the fact that the boat was found af-
! ter the war with her bow pointing
toward the ship and not away from
it, as must have been the case if it
had dived under the vessel. Besides,
when the boat lay alongside the
Chicora on the night of the 14th of
February, l examined it closely, and
1 am quite positive there was no
floating torpedo attachment. And
then the boat was adjusted to float
on the surface and not for diving.
The matter of dragging the torpedo
was discussed by the navy, and it
was generally conceded very
doubtful expedient, as the anchor
age where the Housatonic lay
was a shallow one and it was not
probable that there would be enough
water under her keel to allow the
! Fishboat to pass safely.
In some of the accounts l have
read Of the Fishboat it has been styl-
ed the David. This is an error. The
David was an entire different ves-
sci. 1t was constructed of wood,
about the length and diameter Of
the Fishboat, and was propelled by
steam. This was the. craft that,
manned by Lieut.. W. F. Glassell.
Engineer c. S. Toombs, and Pilot
Cannon, attempted unsuccessfully
to sink the Ironsides. The torpedo,
which was carried on a horizontal
staff, was exploded against her side,
throwing up a column of water that
! fell on Tire David and extinguished
the fire under the boiler. The
marines on the deck of the Ironsides
opened Oh the David with musketry
Glassell and Cannon dropped into
the sea and were made prisoners
by the Ironsides' boats, while
Toombs who could not swim, clung
to the David and drifted away in
the darkness. relighted the fire, and
steered back into the harbor. I
happened to be the officer of the
deck on the Chicora for the mid
watch, and at about four bells 1 re-
cognized his light signal and hailed
him. He answered that it was the
torpedo boa> David-he had sunk
the Ironsides and Lieut.. Glassell
and the pilot were lost We believ-
ed it until The next morning, when
the Ironsides was observed at her
anchorage and apparently unin-
jured. Later We learned of the
safety of Glassell and Cannon
Lieut.. G.. l.. Staunton, in the Confed-
crate Veteran.