Cushing’s Torpedo

CSS Albemarle, built in a cornfield beside the Roanoke River in 1863-1864, helped drive the U.S. Army from Plymouth in April 1864 and defeated seven U.S. gunboats in May. The ironclad ram seemed invincible, but 21-year-old U.S. Navy Lt. William B. Cushing devised a plan to sink it using a torpedo, a tin powder keg with an internal percussion cap, mounted on the end of a wooden spar projecting from the bow of a steam-powered launch. He first hoped to board and capture Albemarle. The Confederate ironclad had been moored in Plymouth for repair since its last engagement, and a floating log barrier protected it from torpedo attack. Late on the night of October 27, Cushing set out in his launch and, after spotting Albemarle, decided to seize it. Before he got close enough to board, a dog’s bark alerted the Confederate guards, who opened fire. Cushing ordered the launch toward the ironclad at full steam. When he reached the log barrier, he rode over it, but the launch stuck instead of penetrating to the ironclad. With a wounded hand and bullet-riddled clothes, Cushing lowered the torpedo beneath Albemarle’s wooden hull and pulled a lanyard that dropped a grapeshot on the detonator. The explosion sank Albemarle but also swamped the launch. Cushing and his crew swam for their lives; he and a sailor escaped, two drowned, and the rest were captured. Cushing received the Thanks of Congress and became a Union hero for his daring exploit.

Plymouth, North Carolina · United States