Battle of the American Civil War
The Battle of Albemarle Sound was an inconclusive naval battle fought in May 1864 along the coast of North Carolina during the American Civil War. Three Confederate warships, including an ironclad, engaged eight Union gunboats. The action ended indecisively due to the sunset.
Background.
In April 1864, a Confederate Army, with the aid of the CSS "Albemarle", forced the surrender of the Union garrison at Plymouth. Robert Hoke, commander of a Confederate Army in North Carolina, encouraged by his success at Plymouth attempted to retake New Bern which had been in Union control since early in 1862. For his proposed attack on New Bern Hoke again turned to the aid of "Albemarle", which had been a decisive factor in the Battle of Plymouth.
Battle.
James W. Cooke, commander of "Albemarle" sailed out of Plymouth in early May 1864, along with the captured steamer CSS "Bombshell" and the transport CSS "Cotton Plant". Steaming south toward New Bern, Cooke ran into a Union fleet at the mouth of Albemarle Sound, commanded by Captain Melancton Smith. This fleet consisted of the double-ender gunboats USS "Mattabasett", USS "Sassacus", USS "Wyalusing" and USS "Miami", the converted ferryboat USS "Commodore Hull", USS "Ceres", USS "Whitehead" and USS "Isaac N. Seymour". When the Confederate ships were spotted, "Mattabasett", "Sassucus", "Whitehead" and "Wyalusing" immediately formed a line of battle supported by "Miami", "Commodore Hull" and "Ceres". "Albemarle" opened fire first, wounding six men working one of "Mattabesett"'s two 100-pounder Parrott rifles. "Mattabesset", "Whitehead" and "Wyalusing" opened fire almost simultaneously. "Albemarle" then attempted to ram "Mattabesett", but the sidewheeler managed to round the ironclad's armored bow. She was closely followed by "Sassacus", which then fired a broadside of solid and 100-pound shot, all of which bounced off "Albemarle"'s casemate armor. However, "Bombshell", being a softer target, was hulled by each heavy shot from "Sassucus"'s broadside and surrendered. "Cotton Plant" withdrew back up the Roanoke, and "Albemarle" continued the fight alone.
Smith, despite an advantage in numbers, could do little damage to the single Confederate ship. Shots glanced off "Albemarle"'s sides. Lieutenant Commander Francis Asbury Roe of "Sassucus", seeing "Albemarle" at a range of about , decided to ram. The Union ship struck the Confederate ironclad full and square, broadside-on, shattering the timbers of her own bow, twisting off her own bronze ram in the process, and jamming both ships together. With "Sassucus"'s hull almost touching the end of the ram's Brooke rifle, "Albemarle"'s gun crew quickly fired two point-blank rifled shells, one of them puncturing "Sassucus"'s boilers; though live steam was roaring through the ship, she was able to break away and drift out of range. "Sassacus" by now was too damaged to function and drifted down river. "Miami" first tried to use her spar torpedo and then to tangle the Confederate ram's screw propellers and rudder with a seine net, but neither ploy succeeded.
"Mattabasett" and "Wyalusing" continued to engage the ram for three hours, until the action was halted by darkness. More than 500 shells were fired at "Albemarle" during the battle; with visible battle damage to her smokestack and other areas on the ironclad, she steamed back up the Roanoke. The "Commodore Hull" and "Ceres" moved to the river's mouth to try and keep the "Albemarle" from re-entering the sound.
Aftermath.
The battle itself was a standoff, but the events that followed had more decisive results. "Albemarle" had held its own against greater numbers but the damages caused the during the battle had forced the ship into port for the next several months, preventing it from being used in General Hoke's planned assault on New Bern. Hoke went ahead with his campaign even without "Albemarle". He achieved nothing before being recalled to Virginia to help defend Petersburg and Richmond. The events in October had a greater impact on the situation when William B. Cushing led a naval raid and detonated a torpedo beneath the "Albermarle"'s hull. The removal of Hoke's force and the destruction of "Albemarle" allowed both Plymouth and Washington, North Carolina, to fall back into Union hands
Order of battle.
Union Navy.
Captain Melancton Smith
Confederate Mosquito Fleet.
Commander James W. Cooke
Notes.
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