Okla-homey
8/5/2010, 06:46 AM
August 5, 1864: "Damn The Torpedos, Full Speed Ahead"
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5180/ddddddddddddfarraguten2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
David Glasgow Farragut. He was a scrapper and made naval history on this day in 1864
146 years ago on this day, Union Admiral David Farragut leads his flotilla through the Confederate defenses at Mobile, Alabama, to seal one of the last major Southern ports. The fall of Mobile Bay was a huge blow to the Confederate slaveocracy, and the victory was the first in a series of successes that secured the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and his heroic forces of freedom.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5421/ddddddddddddddd420pxbattleofmobilebaymapmh8.png (http://imageshack.us)
Mobile became the major Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico after the fall of New Orleans, Louisiana, in April 1862. From this port the Rebs formerly shipped tons of cotton picked by the forced labor of miserable human beings they cruelly held as personal property. Mobile also served as a port-of-entry for blockade runners carrying critical supplies from Havana, Cuba, into Alabama and the Confederate interior. US General Ulysses S. Grant made the capture of the port a top priority after assuming command of all Federal forces in early 1864.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2189/ddddddddddddddddd73coverclky1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fort Morgan controlled one side of the entrance to Mobile Bay. It's still there and you can visit it. Pretty cool place to stroll around in. She was flooded pretty bad by Katrina, but she's dried-out now
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3117/dddddddddddddddddddddddifortta1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
On the other side of the bay stands Ft Gaines on lovely Dauphin Island. Your correspondent has taken part in living history events there and has spent the night in one of her casemates (gun ports). Lots of folks say she is haunted, although I saw no ghosts.
Opposing Farragut's force of 17 warships was a Rebel squadron of only four ships; but it included CSS Tennessee, said to be the most powerful ironclad afloat.
Farragut also had to contend with two powerful Confederate batteries inside of Forts Morgan and Gaines. On the morning of August 5, Farragut's force steamed into the mouth of Mobile Bay in two columns led by four ironclads and into a Confederate underwater minefield arrayed at the bay's entrance. USS Tecumseh struck one of the tethered mines and immediately sank.
These submerged infernal devices, which we now call "mines" were called "torpedos" in the 19th century. Some were remotely detonated by wire from shore, some were detonated by the action of a hull striking one of several plungers on the mine's exterior.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4403/torppic33kz3.jpg
Typical Reb underwater mine or "torpedo." Essentially an improvised explosive device, the thing was little more than a sealed wooden keg packed with around 70 pounds of gunpowder, tethered to float three to four feet below the surface. The brass plunger on the side would be forced inward by the hull of a passing ship which then struck a contact primer that ignited on the percussion principle -- rather like the effect of a gun's firing pin striking the primer of a cartridge. The fulminated mercury primer then fired a jet of flame into the powder charge and ka-bloowie!
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7986/ddddddddddddddddddddusstecumseh28186329rg2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
After striking a mine, USS Tecumseh rolls and sinks quickly with the loss of most her hands who coudn't escape.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8910/dddddddddddddddpointblanktg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Slugging it out at point-blank range. The Confederate ironclad, CSS Tennessee does considerable damage to USS Oneida and Farragut's flagship USS Hartford. In the foreground, the dual turreted monitor USS Chickasaw blasts away at CSS Tennessee. In the left rear, the monitor USS Winnebago rushes to give aid.
The rest of the fleet fell into confusion but Farragut rallied them with the words, "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!" That line became one of the most famous in naval history. Put another way, the man was saying, scru the underwater mines, we got Reb butts to kick!
The Yankee fleet quickly knocked out the smaller Confederate ships, but Tennessee fought a valiant battle against overwhelming odds before it sustained heavy damage and surrendered. The Feds laid siege to Forts Morgan and Gaines, and both were captured within two weeks. Confederate forces remained in control of the city of Mobile, but the port was no longer available to blockade runners.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/4041/ddddddddddddddddd210dgfmbaycke6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The most famous painting of the action on August 5, 1864 in Mobile Bay. You can see the stone cold stud Farragut standing in the rigging as he fights his flagship USS Hartford alongside the powerful slab sided CSS Tennessee. Note that big honkin' wood splinter on the rail in the foreground. Those splinters which flew when wooden ships were struck by naval gunfire typically killed more crewmen than the cannonballs.
The Battle of Mobile Bay lifted the morale of the North. With Grant stalled at Petersburg, Virginia outside the Reb capital of Richmond, and General William T. Sherman temporarily unable to capture Atlanta, the capture of the bay became the first in a series of US victories that stretched to the fall election. and ensured Honest Abe's re-election.
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5282/insane7zops4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5180/ddddddddddddfarraguten2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
David Glasgow Farragut. He was a scrapper and made naval history on this day in 1864
146 years ago on this day, Union Admiral David Farragut leads his flotilla through the Confederate defenses at Mobile, Alabama, to seal one of the last major Southern ports. The fall of Mobile Bay was a huge blow to the Confederate slaveocracy, and the victory was the first in a series of successes that secured the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and his heroic forces of freedom.
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5421/ddddddddddddddd420pxbattleofmobilebaymapmh8.png (http://imageshack.us)
Mobile became the major Confederate port on the Gulf of Mexico after the fall of New Orleans, Louisiana, in April 1862. From this port the Rebs formerly shipped tons of cotton picked by the forced labor of miserable human beings they cruelly held as personal property. Mobile also served as a port-of-entry for blockade runners carrying critical supplies from Havana, Cuba, into Alabama and the Confederate interior. US General Ulysses S. Grant made the capture of the port a top priority after assuming command of all Federal forces in early 1864.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/2189/ddddddddddddddddd73coverclky1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Fort Morgan controlled one side of the entrance to Mobile Bay. It's still there and you can visit it. Pretty cool place to stroll around in. She was flooded pretty bad by Katrina, but she's dried-out now
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3117/dddddddddddddddddddddddifortta1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
On the other side of the bay stands Ft Gaines on lovely Dauphin Island. Your correspondent has taken part in living history events there and has spent the night in one of her casemates (gun ports). Lots of folks say she is haunted, although I saw no ghosts.
Opposing Farragut's force of 17 warships was a Rebel squadron of only four ships; but it included CSS Tennessee, said to be the most powerful ironclad afloat.
Farragut also had to contend with two powerful Confederate batteries inside of Forts Morgan and Gaines. On the morning of August 5, Farragut's force steamed into the mouth of Mobile Bay in two columns led by four ironclads and into a Confederate underwater minefield arrayed at the bay's entrance. USS Tecumseh struck one of the tethered mines and immediately sank.
These submerged infernal devices, which we now call "mines" were called "torpedos" in the 19th century. Some were remotely detonated by wire from shore, some were detonated by the action of a hull striking one of several plungers on the mine's exterior.
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4403/torppic33kz3.jpg
Typical Reb underwater mine or "torpedo." Essentially an improvised explosive device, the thing was little more than a sealed wooden keg packed with around 70 pounds of gunpowder, tethered to float three to four feet below the surface. The brass plunger on the side would be forced inward by the hull of a passing ship which then struck a contact primer that ignited on the percussion principle -- rather like the effect of a gun's firing pin striking the primer of a cartridge. The fulminated mercury primer then fired a jet of flame into the powder charge and ka-bloowie!
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7986/ddddddddddddddddddddusstecumseh28186329rg2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
After striking a mine, USS Tecumseh rolls and sinks quickly with the loss of most her hands who coudn't escape.
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8910/dddddddddddddddpointblanktg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Slugging it out at point-blank range. The Confederate ironclad, CSS Tennessee does considerable damage to USS Oneida and Farragut's flagship USS Hartford. In the foreground, the dual turreted monitor USS Chickasaw blasts away at CSS Tennessee. In the left rear, the monitor USS Winnebago rushes to give aid.
The rest of the fleet fell into confusion but Farragut rallied them with the words, "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead!" That line became one of the most famous in naval history. Put another way, the man was saying, scru the underwater mines, we got Reb butts to kick!
The Yankee fleet quickly knocked out the smaller Confederate ships, but Tennessee fought a valiant battle against overwhelming odds before it sustained heavy damage and surrendered. The Feds laid siege to Forts Morgan and Gaines, and both were captured within two weeks. Confederate forces remained in control of the city of Mobile, but the port was no longer available to blockade runners.
http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/4041/ddddddddddddddddd210dgfmbaycke6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The most famous painting of the action on August 5, 1864 in Mobile Bay. You can see the stone cold stud Farragut standing in the rigging as he fights his flagship USS Hartford alongside the powerful slab sided CSS Tennessee. Note that big honkin' wood splinter on the rail in the foreground. Those splinters which flew when wooden ships were struck by naval gunfire typically killed more crewmen than the cannonballs.
The Battle of Mobile Bay lifted the morale of the North. With Grant stalled at Petersburg, Virginia outside the Reb capital of Richmond, and General William T. Sherman temporarily unable to capture Atlanta, the capture of the bay became the first in a series of US victories that stretched to the fall election. and ensured Honest Abe's re-election.
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5282/insane7zops4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)