CSS
Albemarle (1864-1864)
A relatively small ironclad ram,
Albemarle was built at Edwards
Ferry, North Carolina. Commissioned in April 1864 under the command of
Commander J.W. Cooke, CSN, she almost immediately went into action. On 19
April 1864, Albemarle attacked U.S. ships off Plymouth, N.C.,
sinking USS Southfield and driving away USS Miami and two other gunboats.
With their waterborne communications severed, the Union forces were forced
to surrender Plymouth to the Confederates.
J ust over two weeks later, on 5 May, Albemarle, accompanied by the
steamers Cotton Plant and Bombshell, steamed out into the North Carolina
Sounds and attacked another U.S. Navy force, consisting of the
"Double-ender" gunboats Sassacus, Wyalusing and Mattabesett, converted
ferryboat Commodore Hull and small gunboat Ceres. Though Sassacus made a
valiant attempt to sink the Albemarle by ramming, she was badly damaged in
return. The Confederate ironclad was but lightly damaged in the
engagement, which threatened the entire Union position on North Carolina's
internal waters.
Desperate circumstances yield desperate responses, and on the night of
27-28 October 1864, Lieutenant William B. Cushing, USN, took the torpedo
boat Picket Boat Number One upriver to Plymouth and bravely attacked
Albemarle at her berth, sinking her with a spar torpedo. Following the
Union recapture of the town, Albemarle was refloated. Taken to the Norfolk
Navy Yard in April 1865, she remained there until sold in October 1867 |