Information About USS Stromboli that Appears in Ten Books

USS Stromboli, which was built during the penultimate year of the War of the Rebellion, was a torpedo-vessel that spent the majority of its wartime career on the James River. Chief Engineer William Willis Wiley Wood, who had served under Rear-admiral Francis Hoyt Gregory, helped to design the torpedo-ram while Assistant Engineer John L. Lay was the first officer to be placed in command of the fighting vessel. It was possible to raise or lower the depth of the torpedo-ram, in a similar manner to which a submarine boat descends beneath the water or rises to the surface, via the admission and expulsion of water from its ballast tanks. An upward curve, which followed the line of the keel, gave the deck of the torpedo-craft the appearance of a turtle-shell. Iron plates, which were two-inches in thickness, protected the deck from projectiles. A pilot-house, smoke-stack and ventilator could be observed above the line of the water. No weapons were installed above the waterline of the fighting vessel while the submarine mines, which contained between 60-lbs and 100-lbs of gunpowder, were deposited via a spar that could be projected or retracted. Beardsley's Magnetic-Electro Machine, at the time in which the semi-submersible fighting vessel was undergoing its trials on the inland waterways of the Northern States of America, was used to detonate a sixty-pounder torpedo. A steam-engine provided the torpedo-ram, which had a length of 75-feet in length and a beam of 20-feet, with its means of locomotion while a marine screw propelled it through the water. USS Spuyten Duyvil, as USS Stromboli became known at a later stage of its career, never detonated its torpedoes in anger but was able to remove the obstructions from the James River via the explosion of its submarine mines. It had been intended to construct a class of twenty fighting vessels, that would have been based of the plans which Wood had created, that were iron-plated and which were capable of depositing submarine mines via an iron bar.

1) American Artisan and Patent Record. A Weekly Journal of Arts, Mechanics, Manufactures, Mining, Engineering, and Chemistry, and Repertory of Patents. Volume I. May, 1864, to May, 1865. by Various Authors.

A short article, which appears on page 226 of the first volume of American Artisan and Patent Record, examines the use of torpedoes in naval warfare. It appears that the article, which is reported to have first appeared in Dollar Newspaper, was reproduced from another publication. USS Stromboli, which is claimed to have been designed by Chief Engineer W. W. W. Wood, is described as a new species of torpedo-boat that had been developed at the behest of the Navy Department of the United States of America. Wood, who is reported to have held a senior engineering position in the United States Navy, is reported to have equipped the picket-boats that were guarding the sounds of North Carolina with the torpedoes that he had designed. It is claimed that the only components of USS Stromboli that were visible above the waterline were its pilot-house, which is reported to have been 38-inches in height, and its smokestack. A basket is claimed to have been used to attach the torpedo, which is reported to have contained between sixty-pounds and one-hundred pounds of gunpowder, to a retractable spar. It is claimed that the torpedo-ram, after detonating its warhead, received no shock from the submarine explosion. An article about the trial trip of the torpedo-boat, which appears on page 244, includes information about the technical components of the fighting vessel and an analysis of its weapons system. It is reported that a number of private firms, in a similar manner to the ways in which Passaic-class monitors were constructed by a variety of manufacturing companies, were entrusted to fabricate the different components of the torpedo-ram. On the 25th of November, 1864, USS Stromboli is reported to have undertaken its trial trip. It is claimed that the torpedo-ram, on the same day as its trial trip, detonated two warheads. A 50-lbs torpedo, which was detonated at a depth of one-foot below the water, is reported to have raised a water column that was ten-feet in width and 180-feet in height.

2) Annual of Scientific Discovery: Or, Year-Book of Facts in Science and Art for 1865 by David A. Wells.

David A. Wells, on pages 96 and 97 of The Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1865, claims that Engineer Wood of the United States Navy had designed a torpedo-ram that was constructed from wood and protected by iron plates. It is reported that the torpedo-boat, which is claimed to have had a depth of 7-feet, was 75-feet in length and 20-feet in beam. Two inches of iron plating, which is reported to have been in the process of being installed at the time in which the article was published, is claimed to have protected the deck of the torpedo-ram from shot and shell. USS Stromboli, as the torpedo-ram was known, is reported to have been a semi-submersible vessel that could decrease or increase its depth with water-tight ballast tanks. It is claimed that the pilot-house, smoke-stack and ventilator were the only parts of the torpedo-vessel that were visible above the water. Presenting a small surface area above the water, which was also a design feature of the Pará-class monitors that participated in the Paraguayan War, is claimed to have decreased the chances of enemy projectiles striking the torpedo-boat. It is explained that the engine, which is claimed to have driven a screw that performed fifty revolutions a minute, was situated at the aft of the torpedo-ram while a high-pressure boiler is reported to have been located at the fore of the fighting vessel. The diameter of the cylinder of the engine, which is described as compact and powerful, is claimed to have been eighteen-inches while its stroke is reported to have been eighteen-inches. A limited amount of information, for the purposes of maintaining secrecy, is provided about the torpedo machinery that was installed at the bow of the fighting vessel while no information is presented about the mechanical components of the warhead. It is claimed that the complement of the torpedo-boat, which was comprised of three engineering officers as well as nine firemen and coal-heavers, was able to operate the fighting vessel without serious difficulty.

3) Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Vol. V. by Various Authors.

Lieutenant-colonel Charles H. Webb, whose article about the use of torpedoes in modern warfare appears in the fifth volume of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, provides a historical narrative about the evolution of submarine explosive devices and their use in armed conflicts. It is reported, on page 673, that mechanical torpedoes were first used in the sixteenth-century while David Bushnell and Robert Fulton are credited with developing the contraptions into a state of maturity. Torpedoes, on page 674, are reported to have been named after the Electric ray. It is implied that torpedoes, when used as a tool of asymmetric warfare, could have upset the balance of naval power between the nations. Weak nations, when equipped with torpedoes, could meet powerful nations on more equal terms. Fulton, who is reported to have created four different types of torpedo, is claimed to have created explosive devices that could be used for defensive and offensive purposes. Block-ship torpedoes, which are identified as the fourth category of torpedoes, are reported to have been mounted on spars. It is claimed that dedicated vessels, onto which the spars were mounted, would convey block-ship torpedoes to their targets. Torpedoes, some of which were designed by Moritz Herman von Jacobi, are reported to have been used by the French Empire and the Russian Empire during the Crimean War. It is claimed, on page 676, that torpedoes defended the coast and harbours during the American Civil War. An illustration of a torpedo-boat, which is identified as USS Stromboli, is cited as an example of a dedicated vessel that employs submarine explosives as its primary armament. It can be seen, from the profile view of the starboard side of the fighting vessel, that the deck of the torpedo-ram curved upwards from both ends. The profile of the torpedo-boat, therefore, could be described as having the appearance of a turtle-back while a faint impression of the lower hull is visible beneath the water.

4) Harper's Weekly. A Journal of Civilization. Vol.-VIII.-No. 413 by Various Authors.

Chief-engineer W. W. Wood, on page 764 of the eighth volume of Harper's Weekly, is reported to have designed torpedoes for the United States Navy during the War of the Rebellion. On the 26th of November, 1864, a short biography of Wood was published in the magazine. Wood, who is claimed to have been born in North Carolina, is reported to have been attached to the staff of Rear-admiral Gregory during the penultimate year of the American Civil War. It is claimed that the Navy Department of the United States of America had appointed Wood, who is reported to have been educated in the Northern States of America, to the position of general superintendent of ironclad construction. Gouverneur Kemble, who is revealed to have been the proprietor of West Point Foundry, is reported to have employed Wood due to his knowledge of engineering and mechanics. Wood, in the March of 1845, is claimed to have joined the United States Navy at the time in which George Bancroft was the head of the Navy Department. Gideon Welles, who is revealed to have been Secretary of the Navy during the War of the Rebellion, is reported to have appointed Wood to the position of General Inspector of Steam Machinery. It is claimed that Wood, in addition to the duty of overseeing the construction of ironclads, was responsible for building the machinery that would be installed on the fighting vessels of the United States Navy. Wood is claimed to have invented the torpedo, which is described as a new and destructive shell, that Lieutenant Cushing used to destroy CSS Albemarle while it was resting on the Roanoke River. It is apparent, therefore, that Wood was designing weapons while he was overseeing the construction of warships and inspecting steam-engines. USS Stromboli, which is identified as an ironclad torpedo-vessel, is described as a powerful engine of destruction in naval warfare. It is reported that the torpedo-ram, which is claimed to have been designed by Wood, was nearing a state of completion. 

5) Light-Draught Monitors by the Senate of the United States of America.

George Sewell, whose examination before the Senate of the United States of America is included in Light-Draught Monitors, is identified as one of the Chief Engineers of the United States Navy. On the 21st of December, 1864, Sewell relayed information about the different classes of monitor that had been built for the Federal armada. Mr. Wade, whose first name is not revealed, is identified as the individual that questioned Sewell about the technical deficiencies of the Casco-class monitors and their relation to other ironclads. Sewell, on page 23, is asked to provide information about the torpedo-vessels that had been built on behalf of the Navy Department of the United States of America. USS Stromboli, which is described as the only real torpedo-boat in the United States Navy, is reported to have been seventy-five feet in length while its beam is claimed to have been between fifteen and seventeen-feet. It is claimed that the torpedo-ram, which is reported to have been fitted with two water-tight doors, drew six-feet of water. An outrigger, which is claimed to have projected from the bow of the torpedo-boat at a distance of between twenty-five and thirty-feet, is claimed to have accessed the inner spaces of the hull via a spherical joint. Water pumps, in order to prevent the interior of the hull from being flooded, are reported to have been used to remove the water from the space that existed between the two doors. A torpedo is claimed to have been attached to the bar, as the outrigger was also known, while it was retracted inside the hull. It is reported that the Navy Department paid $75,000 for the torpedo-ram while it is claimed that the fighting vessel travelled at a speed of six to seven-knots. Sewell reports that USS Stromboli, in its capacity as a torpedo-ram, was worth a dozen Casco-class monitors. It is claimed that it would be more economical to build new torpedo-boats, as evidenced by USS Stromboli, than it would be to convert the Casco-monitors into torpedo-vessels. 

6) Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Contributed by Officers of the Royal Engineers. New Series. Vol. XV. by Various Authors.

The fifteenth volume of the new series of Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers, Contributed by Officers of the Royal Engineers contains thirteen articles about subjects that are related to civil engineering and military engineering. Notes on Submarine Mines, (Commonly Called Torpedoes), in America during the Late Civil War comprises the first paper in the collection of articles and was composed by Captain Edward Harding Steward. Defensive and offensive torpedoes, which are also referred to as submarine mines, are the main subject of the paper. It is reported, on page 2, that the armed forces of the Confederate States of America used submarine mines for defensive purposes. Torpedoes that were employed in the early stages of the War of the Rebellion, to paraphrase Steward, were rude and ill-constructed. Drifting torpedoes, on page 3, are identified as the first offensive torpedoes to be used in the American Civil War. Motive torpedoes, on page 19, are described as small mines that are attached to booms and conveyed to their targets by dedicated vessels. Mr. Wood, on page 21, is reported to have designed torpedo-vessels for the United States Navy. It is claimed that Wood, who is reported to have invented his own version of the spar-torpedo, had been appointed to the position of Inspector of Steam Machinery and had been granted the role of Chief or Professor of the Engineering and Torpedo Branch at the Naval School of Annapolis. USS Stromboli, on page 22, is identified as one of the torpedo-rams that Wood designed and it is explained that the the name of the torpedo-boat was changed to USS Spuyten Duyvil at a later date. It is reported that USS Stromboli, via the admission and emission of water from its ballast tanks, could increase or decrease its draught. USS Spuyten Duyvil, on page 23, is claimed to have assisted in the removal of the submarine obstructions that had been deposited in the James River via the detonation of its torpedoes.

7) Submarine Boats by Lieutenant G. W. Hovgaard.

Lieutenant G. W. Hovgaard, who dedicates the second chapter of Submarine Boats to the history of submersible vessels, describes the use of torpedo-rams in the American Civil War. It is reported, on page 25, that the United States Navy conducted experiments with a semi-submersible vessel in the penultimate year of the War of the Rebellion. USS Stromboli, in the October of 1864, is claimed to have undergone its preliminary trials on the Hudson River. Chief-constructor Wood is reported to have designed the semi-submersible vessel, which is claimed to have been built at Fair Haven, while it is stated that the Congress of the United States of America was satisfied with the results of the experiments that were conducted on the inland waterways. Congress is reported to have proposed that a class of twenty torpedo-boats, which may have been constructed to the plans of USS Stromboli, should be built for the armed forces of the United States of America. It is implied, however, that USS Stromboli remained the only vessel of its class. It is claimed that the torpedo-ram was 75-feet in length, 20-feet in beam as well as 7-feet in depth while the conning-tower, smoke-stack and ventilator are reported to have been the only components of the fighting vessel that were visible above the waterline. A steam-engine is claimed to have provided the torpedo-boat with its means of locomotion and it is suggested that either the marine screw, which is reported to have allowed the fighting vessel to travel at a speed of ten miles-per-hour, or the fly-wheel turned at fifty revolutions a minute. It is claimed, on page 26, that the semi-submersible vessel carried its torpedo on the end of a 30-foot outrigger. Electricity is reported to have been used to detonate the mine, or torpedo, while the shell is claimed to have contained up to 200-lbs of gunpowder. On the 26th of November, 1864, the torpedo-ram is reported to have proceeded towards Hampton Roads while it was under the command of John L. Lay.

8) The Engineer. Vol. XXIV.-From July to December, 1867. by Various Authors.

An article about torpedoes, which appears on pages 531 and 532 of the twenty-fourth volume of The Engineer, includes information about fighting vessels that employed submarine explosive devices as their primary armaments. On the 27th of December, 1867, a report was published on the evolution of subaqueous mines and their employment in warfare. It is suggested that torpedoes were displayed at the International Exhibition, which was held at Paris, while artillery and other materials are also revealed to have been featured at the science fair. Static, or stationary, torpedoes are claimed to have been employed by the armed forces of the Southern Confederacy for defensive purposes. Steam-launches, which carried torpedoes at the end of poles, are reported to been introduced during the American Civil War and used as an offensive weapon. It is implied that torpedo-rams were invented by the Confederate States Navy while the United States Navy, which is referred to as the Northern navy, is reported to have developed its own variations of the spar-torpedo vessel. USS Stromboli, which is also referred to as USS Spuyten Duyvil, is described as a steam-gunboat that was armed with a spar-mounted torpedo. It may be argued, however, that the fighting vessel would be better described as a torpedo-ram than as a gunboat. An explosive device, by means of an iron spar, is reported to have been thrust out from the inner spaces of the ship and detonated against its target. The torpedo-boat, which is described as an ingenious but ill-judged complication, would need to be equipped with ranged artillery weapons to be classified as a gunboat and it appears that the fighting vessel was unarmed above the waterline. It is suggested that the torpedo-ram, perhaps as a result of arriving too late in the theatre of combat, was unable to distinguish itself during the course of the insurrection. Several journals, from a variety of different nations, are claimed to have published reports about the torpedo-boat.

9) The Telegrapher: Published by the National Telegraphic Union. Volume I. From September 26, 1864, to November 15, 1865. by the National Telegraphic Union.

L. H. Smith, who is identified as the editor of the first volume of The Telegrapher, claims that electricity was used to detonate torpedoes during the penultimate year of the War of the Rebellion. On the 26th of December, 1864, the National Telegraphic Union published an installation of its journal that included news about the latest events in the American Civil War. Beardsley's Magnetic-Electro Machine, on page 38, is reported to have been installed on USS Stromboli and used to detonate a sixty-pounder torpedo at a depth of twenty-feet below the surface of the water. It is claimed that the perpendicular column of water, which rose under the gaseous pressures of the submarine explosion, was twenty-feet in diameter and sixty-feet in height. Lieutenant Cushing is reported to have destroyed CSS Roanoke, which is described as a Rebel iron-clad, with a similar torpedo to that which had been detonated by the magnetic-electro machine. It is possible that CSS Albemarle, rather than CSS Roanoke, was the ironclad that Cushing had sunk with a torpedo. A link existed, therefore, between the electrical telegraph and subaqueous mines. Magnetos, alongside other modes of electrical generation, could be used to transmit messages along the telegraphic lines of communication or to detonate torpedoes. On the 26th of June, 1865, the tenth installation of the first volume of the telegraphic journal was published. Twenty-six weeks had passed, therefore, since USS Stromboli had detonated one of its torpedoes via an electrical current that had been generated by a magneto. It is reported, on page 114, that the Telegraph Corps of the United States Army had used electricity to detonate torpedoes in Mobile Bay. David E. Elphick is claimed to have used electrical torpedoes to destroy the submarine mines as well as the subaqueous obstructions, which included sunken barges and ships that were filled with bricks or scrap iron, that had been placed in the water by the government of the Southern Confederacy.

10) The United States Service Magazine. Vol. II. by Various Authors.

A list of naval officers that served onboard USS Stromboli, which appears in the second volume of The United States Service Magazine, reveals that the personnel who formed the complement of the torpedo-boat changed over the course of time. It appears that the torpedo-ram, about which little information can be found within the confines of the magazine, had entered service by the tenth month of the penultimate year of the American Civil War. It is explained, on page 591, that the torpedo-vessel received its commanding officer at the beginning of October while the junior officers are claimed to have joined their commander at a similar time. On the 4th of October, 1864, Assistant Engineer John L. Lay is reported to have been relieved from the special duty that he was performing at New York and transferred to the command of Torpedo Boat Stromboli while Second Assistant Engineer C. H. Stone is claimed to have been assigned to the crew of the fighting vessel on the same day. Stone, like Lay, is reported to have been performing special duty in New York before he was transferred to his new post. On the 5th of October, 1864, Second Assistant Engineer James H. Chasmer is claimed to have received orders to join Lay and Stone onboard the fighting vessel. Chasmer, on page 592, is reported to have been transferred to USS Mohongo after he had served onboard USS Stromboli for sixteen days. It is revealed, on page 599, that a replacement for Chasmer was found on the same day that he was transferred to his new ship. On the 21st of October, 1864, John E. Chadwick and John B. Smith are reported to have been assigned to the torpedo-boat as Acting Second Assistant Engineers. Byron S. Heath, on page 600, is revealed to have been ordered to join the crew the torpedo-ram on the same day that Lay received the command of the fighting vessel. It is explained that Heath, who held the rank of Third Assistant Engineer, was assigned to the crew of the torpedo-boat on the 21st of October.