USS Spuyten Duyvil is Mentioned in Ten Historical Publications

USS Spuyten Duyvil was an iron-cased, semi-submersible and torpedo-laying warship that was built for the United States Navy. William Willis Wiley Wood and John Louis Lay, while under the supervision of Francis Hoyt Gregory, are reported to have designed the torpedo-ram as well as its weapons system. Attaching torpedoes to spars, conveying them to their target onboard a dedicated fighting vessel and detonating them against the hull of a target ship was first attempted by the Confederate States Navy. Picket-launches, which were armed with spar-mounted torpedoes and powered by steam-engines, represented the initial response of the United States Navy to the David-class torpedo-vessels that had been constructed for the Confederate States Navy. USS Stromboli, as USS Spuyten Duyvil was known at the beginning of its career, contained elements of ironclads and torpedo-boats in its design. Service with the James River Squadron, which was involved in the push towards Richmond, beckoned the torpedo-laying ironclad but it was unable to detonate its explosive charges beneath the hull of an enemy vessel. Opportunities for ship-on-ship combat, during the closing months of the American Civil War, were scarce on the James River. Opportunities did arise, however, for the semi-submersible fighting vessel to prove its worth. Placing obstructions in the inland navigations, in order to disrupt water lines of communication, was an established feature of riverine warfare. Underwater explosions, such as those which were caused by torpedoes, were capable of clearing a river of obstructions and restoring it for the purposes of navigation. Abraham Lincoln, after Robert Edward Lee had surrendered in the April of 1865, had been prevented from visiting Richmond by the obstructions that had been placed in the James River. It was decided that the torpedo-ram would restore the water line of communication, via the detonation of submarine charges, and convey Lincoln to Richmond.   

1) Engineering, Vol. II.-from July to September, 1866 by Zerah Colburn.

Zerah Colburn, in the second volume of Engineering, identifies USS Spuyten Duyvil as a torpedo-ram that was protected by iron slabs and propelled by a marine-screw. On the 26th of October, 1866, four illustrations of the torpedo-vessel were published in the journal while an article about the warship accompanied the engravings. Profile views of the starboard side of the torpedo-boat, which are included on page 320, reveal the external and internal features of the ship. It is possible to see a diagram of the torpedo machinery, while it was retracted inside the bow, which was situated towards the fore end of the fighting vessel. A deck plan, which can be found on page 321, shows the arrangement of the protective iron plates while a view of interior space of the hull reveals a series of wooden ribs. It is claimed, on page 322, that the torpedo-ram was designed and constructed in the final year of the War Between the States but was unable to participate in any combat operations. Obstructions that are reported to have been placed in the James River, in the State of Virginia, are claimed to have prevented Abraham Lincoln from visiting Richmond. It is reported that the torpedo-boat, in order to restore the James River for navigation purposes, used its torpedoes to demolish the obstructions in the water. Captain William Willis Wiley Wood, who is identified as a Chief Engineer of the United States Navy, is claimed to have designed the torpedo-laying machinery that was installed on the fighting vessel while Clute Brothers are reported to have built the military hardware at Schenectady. Samuel H. Pook is claimed to have built the torpedo-ram in Fairhaven, Connecticut, while the construction project is reported to have been completed within the space of three months. The four-bladed propellor that was installed on the torpedo-ram is claimed to have been fabricated at Mystic, Connecticut, by Mallory and Company. Morris, Tasker and Company are reported to have constructed the torpedo-tube in Philadelphia.

2) Engineering Facts and Figures for 1866. An Annual Register of Progress in Mechanical Engineering and Construction by Andrew Betts Brown.

Engineering Facts and Figures for 1866, which was edited by Andrew Betts Brown, contains a forty-seven word document that discusses topics that are related to the creation of cigar ships. Brown, whose journal is also known as An Annual Register of Progress in Mechanical Engineering, discusses the civil and naval aspects of maritime technology. Division Ninth, as the article is titled, is divided into three sections. The first section discusses ships in general, the second part explores ironclads while the third segment covers docks. Torpedoes, in relation to naval architecture and the protective properties of iron, forms the last subdivision of the second section of the article. It is claimed, on page 334, that the quality of gunpowder which was detonated underwater determined the power of submarine explosions. Gunpowder of the highest quality, therefore, was recommended for use in torpedo charges. Mister Woods, on page 337, is credited with creating an improved version of the David-class of torpedo-boat for the United States Navy. It is claimed that Woods, which may be a reference to William Willis Wiley Wood, was given the task of designing an iron-cased fighting vessel that could deposit torpedoes beneath the hulls of target ships. Admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory, at the time in which the torpedo-ram was being built, is reported to have been the Chief of the Bureau of Construction. USS Spuyten Duyvil, on page 338, is claimed to have entered service by the end of 1864 and may be regarded as having fulfilled the design specifications for a torpedo-laying ironclad that was propelled by a marine-screw. The torpedo-ram is reported to have cleared the James River of obstructions after General Robert Edward Lee, in the April of 1865, had surrendered. It is claimed that the torpedoes, once they were deployed by the semi-submersible fighting vessel, rested at a vertical position. The cylindro-spherical projectiles, once they had exploded, are reported to have transferred their energy upwards.

3) Frazer's Magazine, New Series. Vol. V. by James Anthony Froude.

James Anthony Froude, who included an article about torpedoes in the fifth volume of the new series of Frazer's Magazine, describes the evolution of underwater explosives. It is reported, on page 461, that the torpedo was not a modern weapon but the true extent of its destructive abilities are claimed to have been unknown until the nineteenth-century. Torpedoes, which are claimed to have been useful for defensive and offensive purposes, are reported to have been controversial weapons during the American Civil War. Distaste for the use of torpedoes in warfare is reported to have dated back to the Crimean War, during which the Russians are claimed to have deployed the contrivances in the Baltic Sea, and the British are reported to have referred to the naval mines as infernal machines. Criticism of the use of torpedoes is reported to have been directed against the Confederate States of America, whose deployment of infernal machines was compared to attempted assassination and described as unchristian, by the supporters of the Union. Torpedoes, on page 482, are claimed to have been used since ancient times. Variations of the infernal machine, which employed a mechanical means of detonation, are reported to have emerged in the seventeenth-century. Submarine torpedoes, on page 463, are claimed to have been invented by David Bushnell and used for the first time during the Revolutionary War. It is reported, on page 464, that the submarine carcases which Bushnell had invented were the first contrivances to be described as torpedoes. Robert Fulton, on page 466, is claimed to have been the first inventor to propose that torpedoes should be attached to outriggers. Samuel Colt, between 1829 and 1842, is reported to have developed a system for detonating submarine batteries with electricity. USS Spuyten Duyvil, on page 472, is described a special torpedo-vessel that was equipped with ingenious and complicated machinery that bestowed its outrigger with universal motion.

4) Information from Abroad. Papers on Naval Operations during the Year Ending July, 1885 by the United States Office of Naval Intelligence.

Papers on Naval Operations during the Year Ending in July, 1885 contains information about USS Spuyten Duyvil and the individuals who designed it. Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder, whose article about the development of the modern torpedo-boat is included in the papers, describes the use of the spar-torpedo during American Civil War. Information from Abroad, as the papers are also known, was published twenty years after the War of the Rebellion had ended and the torpedo-boat had evolved into something different. It is claimed, on page 118, that the Confederate States Navy pioneered the use of the spar-torpedo while the United States Navy is reported to have attached torpedoes to steam-launches. Chief Engineer William Willis Wiley Wood and Assistant Engineer John Louis Lay, who may have been inspired by the torpedo-boats of the the Confederate States Navy, are claimed to have played an instrumental role in the development of offensive torpedo warfare. Steam-launches, which are reported to have served as picket-boats in the United States Navy, are claimed to have been equipped with Wood-Lay torpedoes. Torpedo-boats, on page 119, are reported to have been in danger of being sunk by the columns of water that were raised by the detonation of their own infernal machines. Speed, stealth and silence are claimed to have been the necessary qualities of torpedo-boats while protection against musketry, ordnance as well as their own weapons are reported to have been important design features. USS Spuyten Duyvil, which is claimed to have been designed by Wood and Lay, is reported to have been shielded from projectiles by iron plates that covered its deck as well as its sides. Defects of the torpedo-ram are claimed to have included its lack of speed, which is claimed to have been five-knots, and its vulnerability to its own infernal device. It is reported that the torpedo-boat could detonate its torpedoes, which are claimed to have been mounted on bars of malleable iron, with electricity.

5) Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Volume XI, Number 2 by Albert B. Willits.

John Louis Lay, whose obituary appears in the second installment of the eleventh volume of Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, is recognised for his role in the development of torpedo warfare during the War of the Rebellion. Albert B. Willits, who is described as a Chief Engineer, is identified as the editor of the journal. It is claimed, on page 549, that Lay had attained the rank of First Assistant Engineer while he was attached to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Lay, while serving onboard USS Louisiana, is reported to have designed and constructed infernal devices for the United States Navy. News of the improved torpedoes, in the December of 1863, is claimed to have reached the Navy Department and Lay is reported to have developed the designs of his infernal machines in New York. William Willis Wiley Wood, who is identified as a Chief Engineer, is claimed to have assisted Lay with his experiments. It is implied, on page 550, that USS Stromboli represented the effort that had been made to design a genuine torpedo-boat. Steam-power is reported to have moved the spar, via an aperture in the bow, inside or outside of the hull. Mariners, therefore, could attach torpedoes to the spar once it had been retracted. A decision is reported to have been made to rename the torpedo-ram, which would be known as USS Spuyten Duyvil for the remainder of its career, for which Lay and Wood had drawn the plans. It is claimed that the torpedo-vessel cost $45,000 to build while its length is reported to have been 84-feet, its beam is reputed to have been 21-feet and its draught is revealed to have been 8-feet. On the 4th of October, 1864, Gideon Welles is claimed to have appointed Lay as the commander of the torpedo-ram while ordering him to report to Rear-admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory. It is reported that Lay, in the closing months of the American Civil War, commanded the vessel that he had designed while it was clearing obstructions in the rivers of Virginia. 

6) Notes on the Spar Torpedo by Royal Bird Bradford.

Lieutenant-commander Royal Bird Bradford, on pages 16 and 17 of Notes on the Spar Torpedo, claims that the United States Navy showed no interest in offensive torpedo warfare until the penultimate year of the insurrection. Assistant Engineer John Louis Lay, at the invitation of the Secretary of the Navy, is claimed to have created plans for infernal devices and torpedo-rams for the Union. It is explained that Lay, who is claimed to have been serving onboard a blockading vessel in 1863, was an inventor. Lay, whose inventions are reported to have attracted the attention of the Navy Department, is claimed to have been transferred from the blockading fleet to New York and placed under the command of Rear-admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory. It is reported that Chief Engineer William Willis Wiley Wood, who is claimed to have met Lay in New York, became involved in the development of technologies that would facilitate the use of torpedoes in offensive operations. Wood and Lay, whose designs are reported to have been accepted by the Navy Department, are claimed to have worked together on the design of steam-launches as well as iron-cased ships of the monitor type that were capable of using torpedoes as offensive weapons. It is reported that the infernal machines which were intended for use on the torpedo-laying ironclad contained 60-pounds of gunpowder while a second demolition charge, which contained 40-pounds of gunpowder, is claimed to have been reserved for the torpedo-launches. USS Spuyten Duyvil, on page 28, is described as an armored torpedo-vessel while Wood and Lay are identified as its designers. It is claimed, on page 30, that the torpedo-ram was active on the James River but was unable to use its infernal machines in combat. Abraham Lincoln is reported to have been ferried to Richmond, Virginia, in the torpedo-boat while its submarine demolition charges are claimed to have destroyed obstructions that had been placed in the James River.

7) Notes on Torpedoes, Offensive and Defensive by Major Richard Hugh Stotherd.

Major Richard Hugh Stotherd dedicates the fifteenth chapter of Notes on Torpedoes, Offensive and Defensive to locomotive torpedoes. Three types of locomotive torpedo, on page 275, are reported to have existed in the seventh decade of the nineteenth-century. Infernal machines that are guided to their targets by dedicated vessels, of which USS Spuyten Duyvil is an example, are identified as the first class of offensive torpedo. Projectile, or self-propelling, torpedoes are reported to have been the second type of offensive explosive device. Drift torpedoes, which were conveyed to their targets by currents or tides, are named as the third type of mobile warhead. Torpedo-vessels, which are claimed to have been invented by Robert Fulton in 1803, are reported to have been developed into a state of maturity during the American Civil War. USS Spuyten Duyvil, on page 277, is claimed to have been designed around the concept of an outrigger torpedo that could be retracted inside the hull when not in use. A water-tight opening in the bow of the torpedo-ram, which is reported to have been situated below the water-line, is claimed to have permitted the ingress and egress of the spar. Stotherd, who published his notes on torpedoes in 1872, claims that USS Spuyten Duyvil had never detonated its infernal device in a combat situation. It is revealed, via an excerpt of a report by the Committee of Floating Obstructions, that the United States of America had attempted to sell the designs of the Wood-Lay torpedo system to the United Kingdom after the cessation of the War of the Rebellion. The outrigger torpedo apparatus, however, was deemed to be too complicated and the committee refused to purchase the designs. It is reported that the outrigger was capable of lateral motion while is it claimed that the warhead, which is claimed to have been detachable, could be deposited from its spar before it exploded. Concerns were raised, therefore, about the torpedo-ram sinking itself with its own infernal machines.  

8) Submarine Warfare, Offensive and Defensive. Including a Discussion of the Offensive Torpedo System, its Effects upon Iron-Clad Ship Systems, and Influence upon Future Naval Wars by John Sanford Barnes.

Lieutenant-commander John Sanford Barnes mentions USS Spuyten Duyvil the tenth chapter of Submarine Warfare, Offensive and Defensive while discussing the wider issue of the deployment of infernal machines. USS Spuyten Duyvil, which is discussed from page 154 until page 160, is described as the nearest approach that the United States Navy made to completing a torpedo-boat. William Willis Wiley Wood and John Louis Lay, who are described as engineers, are identified as the inventors of the torpedo-vessel. It is reported, however, that the torpedo-ram was unable to test its infernal machines in combat. Barnes, however, describes the torpedo-boat as the most formidable engine of destruction for naval warfare that was then afloat. The length of the torpedo-ram, from aft of the stern-post to the forward edge of the gate-frame, is reported to have been 73-feet and 11-inches. It is claimed that the torpedo-boat had an extreme length 84-feet and 2-inches while the moulded breadth, or beam, of the ship is reported to have been 19-feet. The extreme width of the torpedo-ram, however, is claimed to have been 20-feet and 8-inches. It is revealed that the depth of hold of the torpedo-vessel was nineteen-feet and eleven-inches while the draft of the ship is claimed to have been determined by its water-compartments, or sinking tanks, as well as its burden of equipment. Sinking tanks, depending on whether they were full or empty of water, are reported to have raised or lowered the draught of the torpedo-boat while its armaments and machinery are also claimed to have increased the draught. The iron plates on the pilothouse and on the sides of the ship, which could be described as forming a continuous shield along the water-line, are reported to have been 5-inches in thickness while the iron plates on the deck are reported to have been 3-inches in thickness. It is reported that the torpedo-ram, while it was attached to the James River Squadron, served as a picket-launch.

9) The Sailor's Magazine, for the Year Ending, August, 1864. Vol. XXXVII. by the Seamen's Friend Society.

USS Stromboli, on page 119 of the thirty-seventh volume of The Sailor's Magazine, is described as a submarine torpedo-vessel.  It is reported that the torpedo-ram, in the December of 1864, had already been completed and it is claimed that the fighting vessel would use its submarine battery to defend the coast of the United States of America from foreign adversaries. Submersion, or partial submersion, of the torpedo-laying ironclad is claimed to have been achieved by flooding its water compartments. An optimistic assessment is made of the powerplant that was installed on the torpedo-ram, which is claimed to have propelled the ship at a speed of ten-knots, when compared to the modest statistics that are offered in other documents. Three officers and ten men, which amounts to a crew of thirteen, are reported to have provided a sufficient number of working hands to operate the torpedo-ram as well as its machinery. It is claimed that the infernal machine, which is reported to have been attached to a long arm, was carried in a basket and detonated by the crew of the semi-submersible fighting vessel. Stationary torpedoes, which were placed in the shallow waters of rivers or harbours by the armed forces of the Southern Confederacy, are reported to have been more successful at damaging or destroying the gunboats that served in the United States Navy than offensive torpedoes. USS Cairo, USS Commodore Jones, USS Shawsheen and USS Tecumseh are reported to have been among the fighting vessels that were destroyed by static torpedoes. USS Housatonic, which is described as a sloop-of-war, is identified as a vessel that was destroyed by the offensive use of an infernal device. It is claimed that USS Stromboli, which is described as an inexpensive little craft, would be able to defend New York Harbour from European ironclads. USS Spuyten Duyvil, in final the month of the penultimate year of the Civil War in America, was still being referred to by its original name in the popular press.

10) The Steam Navy of the United States by Frank M. Bennett.

Frank M. Bennett, on page 482 of The Steam Navy of the United States, claims that the contract to build USS Stromboli was awarded to Samuel H. Pook. It is reported that Pook constructed the torpedo-vessel in New Haven, Connecticut, while Chief Engineer William Willis Wiley Wood is claimed to have drawn the plans of the ship. On the 1st of June, 1864, Pook is reported to have received the contract to build the torpedo-ram. It is claimed that the ship cost the Navy Department $45,036.29 in construction fees. USS Stromboli, which had its name changed to USS Spuyten Duyvil, is reported to have been larger in dimension than its plans had specified. It is explained that the torpedo-boat, in order to increase its draught to 9-feet, would flood its sinking tanks. Reducing the freeboard of the semi-submersible fighting vessel, when going into action, would decrease the target area which enemy projectiles could hit. Iron plates, which ranged from of five-inches to three-inches, are reported to have protected the vital areas of the torpedo-vessel. Presenting a low freeboard was a typical design feature of ironclads, such as the Pará-class monitors of the Imperial Brazilian Navy, which were built in the second half of the nineteenth-century. It is reported, on page 483, that the ingress and egress of the torpedo-bar was facilitated via a water-tight box as well as a gate-valve that was situated at the bow of the ship. The weight of the torpedo apparatus onboard USS Spuyten Duyvil, which dropped its warheads before detonating them, was 10-tons while the steam-engine is claimed to have weighed one and a half-tons. Picket-boats, which were armed with torpedoes of a similar type to those which were carried onboard USS Spuyten Duyvil, are reported to have been among the first fighting vessels to be armed with spar-mounted torpedoes. The increased weight of the warheads that were carried onboard USS Spuyten Duyvil, however, are reported to have required the use of special machinery for their deployment.