Torpedo-Rams of the David-Class are Mentioned in Ten Publications

Torpedo-rams of the David-class were cigar-boats that are believed to have been built in Charleston, Mobile, Savannah and Wilmington. War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, which is also known as the War of the Rebellion, led to the use of torpedoes for the defence of harbours as well as rivers. David Bushnell and Robert Fulton are often credited as the inventors of the torpedo, which could be defensive or offensive in nature, while Russia is believed to have been the first nation to deploy the explosive devices in combat. Torpedo-boats, however, were invented by the Confederate States Navy during the insurrection. CSS David and CSS Saint Patrick, the latter of which is reputed to have been built at Selma, are two examples of torpedo-rams while USS New Ironsides is a notable victim of a torpedo-boat attack. Charleston was blockaded by the United States Navy during the American Civil War and it was hoped that torpedo-vessels could attack the warships, of which USS New Ironsides was an example, that were blockading the city. A contact-torpedo, which contained 60-lbs of gunpowder, was detonated against the side of the ironclad but failed to inflict any significant damage. A chemical reaction of sulphuric acid and chlorate of potash, which is also known as an acid fuse, was used to detonate the gunpowder charge. Torpedo-boats of the David-class, which were propelled by marine screws that were driven by steam-engines, carried their warheads on spars that were between ten-feet and twelve-feet in length. Other vessels which were targeted by the torpedo-rams of the Confederate States Navy include USS Memphis, USS Octarora and USS Wabash but none of these warships were lost as a result of the attacks. Cigar-boats, by some accounts, ranged from 30-feet to 50-feet in length. Boiler-iron is reputed to have been the principle material from which the torpedo-rams were constructed while their spars, or poles, could be manufactured from iron or wood.

1) A Treatise on Coast-Defense: Based on the Experience Gained by Officers of the Corps of Engineers of the Army of the Confederate States, and Compiled from Official Reports of Officers of the Navy of the United States, Made During the Late North American War from 1861 to 1865. by Lieutenant-Colonel Von Scheliha.

Lieutenant-Colonel Viktor Ernst Karl Rudolf von Scheliha, who is described as Chief Engineer of the Department of the Gulf of Mexico, dedicates the nineteenth chapter of A Treatise on Coast-Defense to the offensive use of torpedoes in the territorial waters of the Confederate States of America. It is revealed that Von Scheliha, who dedicated his work to Admiral His Royal Highness Prince Adalbert of Prussia, had served in the Confederate States of America during the War Between the States. It is reported, on page 304, that torpedoes which explode on contact are more suitable for use on torpedo-boats than warheads which are detonated by electrical currents. Plate XII, which appears between pages 300 and 301, contains four technical drawings of a cigar-shaped vessel that is equipped with a spar-mounted torpedo as well as two diagrams of the warhead. A marine screw, which connects to the engine, is positioned at the aft of the torpedo-ram while the boiler and smokestack are situated at the fore of the fighting vessel. It is reported, on page 312, that a Torpedo-David attempted to destroy USS Memphis in the third month of the penultimate year of the insurrection. The torpedo-vessel is claimed to have been painted the colour of lead and is reported to have resembled an upturned, or capsized, boat above the waterline. CSS St. Patrick, on page 313, is identified as a torpedo-boat of the David-class and is reported to have been built at Selma. A torpedo-ram of the David-class, on page 314, is claimed to have been destroyed by the explosion of its own boiler as it proceeded from Mobile to Navy Cove. One of the crew-members of the torpedo-craft, in the May of 1864, is reported to have been killed while another is claimed to have suffered a broken leg. A lack of suitable boilers and engines in the Southern Confederacy, which was under blockade by the United States Navy, is reported to have prevented the Confederate States Navy from conducting a greater number of offensive actions with torpedo-vessels.

2) Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Volume CXXXVII. January-June 1885. by Various Authors.

Hobart Pacha, whose article about the torpedo scare of the late nineteenth-century appears in the one-hundred and thirty-seventh volume of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, attempts to dispel some of the myths that had arisen around the use of torpedoes in warfare. It is claimed, on page 738, that Pacha played a commanding role in the Ottoman Navy during the Turco-Russian War and doubts are expressed about the effectiveness of offensive or defensive torpedoes in that conflict. Torpedoes, on page 743, are reported to have been at their most effective when they were mounted on poles. It is claimed, on page 745, that the armed forces of the Southern Confederacy had introduced torpedoes during the American Civil War. The cigar torpedo-boat, which may refer to torpedo-vessels of the David-class, are reported to have been among the torpedo-vessels that were deployed by the Confederate States Navy. Torpedo-rams of the David-class, like the Pará-class monitors that had served in the Imperial Brazilian Navy, are claimed to have presented a low profile above the waterline and it is revealed that the smokestack was the only part of the cigar-shaped fighting vessel that was visible above the surface. Comparisons, on page 746, are made between fish-torpedoes and cigar-shaped fighting vessels. Pacha, who claims that he had visited Charleston during the War of the Rebellion, describes a meeting between himself and a naval officer that had occurred in a coffee-house. It is reported that the naval officer, whose name is not revealed, had served onboard a torpedo-vessel that was shaped like a cigar. The cigar-boat, as the naval officer is claimed to have described the torpedo-ram, is reported to have attacked a man-of-war that was blockading Charleston. It is reported that three of the four crew-members of the torpedo-boat, which is reported to have been forty-feet in length, were lost as a result of the action while the man-of-war is reported to have been damaged by the submarine explosion. 

3) Engineering: An Illustrated Journal. Vol. XIX.-From January to June, 1875. Edited by W. H. Maw and J. Dredge.

Adam Sedgewick Woolley, on pages 303 and 304 of the nineteenth volume of Engineering: An Illustrated Journal, describes the evolution of submarine warfare between in the eighteenth-century and the nineteenth-century. On the 9th of April, 1875, spar-torpedo launches are reported to have been adopted by various maritime powers and Woolley declared his intention to provide a brief history of this type of submarine warfare. Captain David Bushnell, between 1775 and 1778, is reported to have invented a diving-boat that was capable of attaching clockwork torpedoes to the underside of ships. HMS Eagle, which is described as a 64-gun ship, is reported to have been an intended victim of the plunging-boat and its torpedo. Robert Fulton, at the beginning of the nineteenth-century, is reported to have conducted practical experiments that demonstrated the destructive capabilities of the torpedo. It is claimed that Fulton, after his experiments with submarine explosions had failed to gain the approval of the governments of Britain or France, turned his attentions to the implementation of steam-navigation. Spar torpedo-launches, however, are reported to have been invented by Fulton. Russia, during the Crimean War, is credited with being the first nation to employ torpedoes for defensive purposes. War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America, which is sometimes referred to as the American Civil War, is reported to have heralded the first instances of the offensive use of torpedoes. Lieutenant Glasselle, in what may be described as an act asymmetrical warfare, is reported to have attacked USS Ironsides with a cigar-shaped fighting vessel that carried a crew of three men and which was equipped with a spar-mounted torpedo. USS Ironsides may refer to USS New Ironsides, which had been attacked by the first torpedo-vessel of the David-class in the October of 1863, while Glasselle may be a misspelling of Lieutenant William Thornton Glassell.

4) Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country. Vol. LXXVIII. July to December 1868. by Various Authors.

It is reported, on page 716 of the seventy-eighth volume of Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, that the United States Navy lost twenty-five of its fighting vessels to torpedoes during the American Civil War while nine of its watercraft are claimed to been damaged by the explosive devices. A torpedo is described as a charge of gunpowder that is enclosed in a watertight envelope while guncotton is named as an alternative explosive, or conflagrant, that was contained within the shell of a torpedo. It is claimed that the envelopes of torpedoes could be constructed from glass, India-rubber or meal. A variety of ignition methods, which included a mix of sulphuric acid and chlorate of potash, are reported to have been used by the armed forces of the Southern Confederacy. Fulminating chemicals, on page 717, are claimed to have superseded the sulphuric acid and chlorate of potash primers that had been used to detonate torpedoes. Electrical torpedoes, one of which is reported to have destroyed USS Commodore Jones, are also claimed to have been employed by the armed forces of the Confederate Republic. It is reported, on page 722, that offensive torpedo warfare was invented in North America. Torpedoes, on page 723, are claimed to have been affixed to an outrigger-apparatus that was installed on a variety of fighting vessels. CSS David, which is described as a small steam-vessel, is reported to have conducted the first successful torpedo attack on an ironclad. It is claimed that the torpedo-boat, which is described as a cigar-shaped vessel, was fifty-feet in length and seven-feet in beam. On the 5th of October, 1863, USS New Ironsides is reported to have been struck by a torpedo at ten 'o clock in the evening. CSS David, which is identified as the attacking vessel, is claimed to have been armed with a contact-torpedo that was mounted on an iron bar that was ten-feet in length. An acid fuse, which may refer to sulphuric acid and chlorate of potash, is reported to have ignited a charge of 60-lbs of gunpowder.

5) North American Review. Vol. CXXVII. edited by Allen Thorndike Rice.

Allen Thorndike Rice, who is identified as the editor of the one-hundred and twenty-seventh volume of North American Review, divides his publication into a series of numbered sections. Admiral David Dixon Porter composed an article about torpedo warfare, which forms the second composition within the two-hundred and sixty-fourth section, which outlines the history of that mode of warfare while addressing the ethical concerns that surrounded the use of torpedoes. The article, which appears to have been published between the September and the October of 1878, was written thirteen years after the American Civil War had ended. Porter, on page 217, describes the torpedo as the most destructive instrument of naval warfare that had ever been devised. Torpedoes, on page 221, are reported to have been deployed by the armed forces of Russia during the Crimean War. It is claimed that these submarine contrivances, as Porter refers to torpedoes, were used for defensive purposes. Ample opportunities to deploy infernal machines are reported, on page 223, to have arisen during the War of the Rebellion and it is claimed that torpedoes were employed by the armed forces of the Confederate States of America. Infernal machines are credited with preventing the United States Navy from capturing of Charleston, Mobile, Savannah and Wilmington. It is claimed, on page 230, that the Confederate States of America was the first military power to employ torpedo-boats in combat. David is reported to have been a generic name that applied to all cigar-shaped fighting vessels, which tended to be 50-feet in length and that were powered by steam-engines, which mounted torpedoes on the end of booms. It is reported that a David, the name of which is claimed to have been an allusion to David and Goliath, attacked USS New Ironsides on the 5th of October. The submarine explosion, which is reported to have shaken the ironclad to a significant degree, is claimed to have inflicted considerable damage on its target.  

6) Papers on Naval Operations during the Year Ending July, 1885 by the Navy Department of the United States of America.

Papers on Naval Operations during the Year Ending July, 1885 contains an article about the evolution of the torpedo-boat which was written by Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder. Torpedo-rams of the David-class, on page 118, are reported to have succeeded the inventions of Berrian and Robert Fulton. Spar-mounted torpedoes and cigar-shaped vessels, during the War of 1812, are claimed to have been invented by the pair. It is explained that torpedoes, rather than being discharged on the surface of a river or estuary, would be detonated below the waterline. Torpedo-vessels of the David-class are claimed to have been built at Mobile, Savannah and Selma for the Confederate States Navy. It is explained that the torpedo-boats took their name from the first member of its class, which was CSS David, while it is reported that the hulls of the fighting vessels had the appearance of cigars. The length of the torpedo-boats, which are claimed to have mounted their warheads at the end of 12-feet spars, is reported to have ranged from 40-feet to 60-feet in length while the typical beam of the cigar-shaped vessels is claimed to have been 7-feet. Marine screws, which received their power from steam-engines, are reported to have propelled the torpedo-vessels through the water. Seven attacks on ships are reported, on page 118, to have been conducted by torpedo-boats during the insurrection. Torpedo-vessels, which may have belonged to the David-class, are claimed to have attempted to destroy USS Memphis and USS Wabash but are reported to have failed to detonate their submarine warheads against the hulls of their intended victims. USS Octarora is claimed to have been attacked by an unnamed torpedo-vessel of the David-class but, after its assailant ran its torpedo into the mud, is reported to have been saved from destruction. It is reported that guard-boats, which were equipped with lassos that could be thrown onto the smokestacks of torpedo-vessels, were designed to capture torpedo-rams of the David-class.

7) Recollections of a Naval Officer, 1841-1865 by William Harwar Parker.

Captain William Harwar Parker dedicates the twenty-seventh chapter of Recollections of a Naval Officer, 1841-1865 to the blockade of Charleston that was enacted by the United States Navy during the War of the Rebellion. General Beauregard, on page 307, is reported to have been in command of the defenses of Charleston while General Ripley is claimed to have been his second-in-command. Batteries, obstructions and torpedoes are reported to have been employed in the defense of the city. Lieutenant Webb, on page 312, is claimed to have been ordered by the Secretary of the Navy of the Southern Confederacy to organize a flotilla of boats that would be armed with infernal machines. It is reported that the purpose of the torpedo-boats, which were to be employed in the defense of Charleston, was to attack the ironclads of the United States Navy. The first, albeit unsuccessful, attempts to use torpedo-rams to attack the Federal warships that were blockading the ports of the Southern States of America are described in the twenty-eighth chapter. Parker, who is revealed to have served in the Confederate States Navy, claims that Lieutenant W. T. Glassell was his second-in-command and reports that he was involved in the first attempts to use torpedo-vessels to destroy the ironclads that were operating on the inland waterways of South Carolina. Glassell, on page 321, is identified as the commander of the torpedo-ram that attacked USS New Ironsides on the 5th of October. It is claimed that the moon was twenty-four days old on the day of the torpedo attack and that, as a consequence, it would have risen at three 'o clock in the morning. Darkness, therefore, would shroud the torpedo-vessel as it approached the ironclad. Glassell, who is reported to have been accompanied by an engineer and two men, is claimed to have shot and killed Acting Ensign Howard while he stood on the deck of the warship. It is reported that Glassell, after abandoning the torpedo-boat, swam to a coal barge and was captured.

8) Submarine Mines and Torpedoes: as Applied to Harbour Defence by John Townsend Bucknill.

John Townsend Bucknill, on page 1 of Submarine Mines and Torpedoes: as Applied to Harbour Defense, claims that submarine mines as well as torpedoes were first put to practical use during the American War of Succession. Ironsides, on page 2, is reported to have been damaged by a spar torpedo-boat while it was blockading Charlestown. It is possible that Ironsides refers to USS New Ironsides while the unnamed torpedo-vessel, the name of which is not revealed, may have referred to the first torpedo-boat of the David-class. Ironsides, in the October of 1863, is claimed to have sustained a serious injury from the submarine explosion but appears to have remained afloat after the fact. No information is provided about the fate of the anonymous torpedo-boat, which is reported to have been armed with a 60-lbs warhead, or its crew while Charlestown may be a misspelling of Charleston. Ironsides is described as an armoured vessel that weighed 3,486-tons and which was armed with a battery of eighteen guns. USS Hoosatonic, which may refer to USS Housatonic, is also reported to have been sunk by a spar-torpedo boat while it was stationed at Charlestown. It appears, in a later chapter that is dedicated to the use of submarine mines for defensive purposes, that the term David had entered the general lexicon by the eighth decade of the nineteenth-century. Long Island, on page 179, is reported to have been incapable of defending itself against a combined attack from the land and sea. A military contraption, which is described as a plunging David, is reported to have been among the weapons that could be used to defend Long Island. Dynamite guns and submarine mines, in addition to the plunging David, are named as weapons that were capable of defending the territorial waters of New York. David, therefore, may have become a generic term for submarine-boats by the closing decades of the nineteenth-century. Ironsides and Minnesota, page 9, are named as victims of torpedo-boat attacks.

9) The Prairie Farmer, A Weekly Journal, New Series, Vol. XII by Anonymous.

USS New Ironsides, on page 256 of the fourteenth volume of the new series of The Prairie Farmer, is reported to have been attacked by a diminutive steamboat on the 5th of October. It is claimed that the iron-cased frigate was struck amidships by an explosive device which, to paraphrase the article, caused a tremendous concussion that knocked down the bulwarks and injured one man. No serious injury, however, is reported to have been inflicted upon the ironclad by the explosion and it was suggested that the iron-plated warship was torpedo-proof. Several of the of mariners that had served onboard the torpedo-ram, which is claimed to have been damaged by the explosion of its own infernal machine, are reported to have drowned after they abandoned the attacking vessel. On the night of the 6th of October, 1863, the insurgent armada is claimed to have made another attempt to destroy the ironclad with a torpedo but the identity of the attacking vessel appears to have been unknown. Heavy rewards, the sum of which are not revealed, are reported to have been offered to anyone who was able to destroy USS New Ironsides and this may have served as a motivation for the crews of the torpedo-ram. Lieutenant W. T. Glassell, on page 284, is identified as the commander of the torpedo-vessel that attacked USS New Ironsides on the 5th of August. It is reported that Glassell, upon his capture, was confined onboard USS Dinsmore and placed under the custody of United States Marshal Murray. USS New Ironsides, rather than being torpedo-proof, is claimed to have avoided destruction because the infernal machine exploded against its side. It is reported that the torpedo, if it had exploded beneath the hull of the ironclad, would have inflicted a greater degree of damage upon the target vessel. CSS David, which is known to have attacked USS New Ironsides on the 5th of October, is not mentioned by name in the report and it may be deduced that the identity of the cigar-boat was unknown.

10) The Public Service Review. Vol. IV. No. 1. by Various Authors.

Lieutenant W. S. Hughes, whose article about torpedo warfare appears in the first issue of the fourth volume of The Public Service Review, describes the changing attitudes towards infernal machines that occurred in the eighteenth-century and the nineteenth-century. It appears that the article, on an unspecified date, was published in New York World before it was reproduced in the journal. The offensive use of infernal machines, that culminated in the invention and development of the projectile torpedo, is the main focus on the article. Primitive submarine boats, on pages 16 and 17, are identified as the first vessels to be equipped with torpedoes. American Turtle and Nautilus, which were invented by David Bushnell as well as Robert Fulton, are revealed to have been the progenitors of all torpedo-vessels. Torpedoes, on page 18, are reported to have been employed by the armed forces of the Southern Confederacy during its war with the United States of America. Gunpowder, which was stored in a metal shell or some other type of container, is identified as the typical primer of an infernal machine. A chemical reaction between chlorate of potash, sugar and sulphuric acid is reported to have facilitated the detonation of contact-torpedoes. It is explained that the first infernal machines that were used by the government of the Confederate Republic were static, or defensive, in nature while the development of dedicated torpedo-vessels is revealed to have occurred later in the conflict. Torpedo-boats of the David-class, on page 19, are described as cigar-shaped boats that were between thirty-feet and forty-feet in length. It is claimed that the cigar-shaped fighting vessels of the Confederate States Navy were constructed from boiler-iron, powered by steam-engines and carried nine passengers. Torpedo-rams are claimed to have mounted their warheads on the end of wooden spars, which are reported to have been between ten-feet and twelve-feet in length, while mechanical locks are identified as the means of detonation.