_ Tar Heel
By Billy Arthur
The Relentless Albemarle
Although outgunned and outmanned, North Carolina’s
formidable ironclad won four crucial engagements to help
Rebel forces recapture Plymouth late in the Civil War.
History
North Carolina has provided
naval history with the only
warship “ever seen in the
world whose keel was laid in
a corn row on a river bank, and which
started, without an experimental trip, to
attack a superior naval force and a forti¬
fied town, and had hove in sight of the
enemy before she was completed and
while workmen were hammering on her
unfinished armor."
So historian A.M. Waddell described
the little and bulky, but formidable, iron¬
clad ram Albemarle'm Last Days of the War
in North Carolina. She drove Federal gun¬
boats from the Roanoke River and en¬
abled Confederate land
forces to recapture the town
of Plymouth, which had
given the enemy control of
the river and upper Albe¬
marle Sound since 1802.
And. for a time, the threat to
vital supply lines to General
Robert E. Lee's Virginia
army was removed,
Although outnumbered,
outgunned and outmanned,
in the 33 days from April 18.
1864. to May 20. the sturdily
built Albemarle was victorious
in four engagements, destroyed two
ships, captured another, put a do/en or
more to rout, and took prisoners and
supplies. She had only one fatality, an
imprudent crewman who was shot in the
head when he poked it through a port¬
hole to see what was going on outside.
Even when tied up at the dock the Albe¬
marle was so feared that the enemy
steered clear of her for five more months
until the dark and rainy night of Octo¬
ber 27. when she was blitzed by a bomb.
Her keel was laid in 1863 in a planted
field, lined by oak and pine tiiubei. at
Edwards Ferry on the Roanoke about 23
Sf Dl.-e M
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«IIV.,11
miles below Weldon, where the water
was too shallow for Federal gunboats.
Nearby was a sawmill and blacksmith
shop, which became a manufacturing
plant. All the workmen were unskilled,
and many materials were scrounged and
hauled long distances.
Another historian. James Dinkins,
said. “No ship was ever constructed
under such adverse circumstances."
The builder-in-charge was 19-year-old
Gilbert Elliott of Elizabeth City, who was
well-known for turning out flat boats. He
followed plans prepared by John L.
Porter, chief constructor of the Confed¬
erate Navy, who ha<l had experience on
the M mi mac.
The Albemarle was 45 feet wide and 1 52
feet long. Pine timber 8-by-IO inches
thick was dovetailed together and
sheathed with four layers of plank; and
the 60-foot long octagonal and station¬
ary turret was built of 24 inches of wood
and two layers of 2-iuth iron plating. The
turret's sides were at 45 degrees so that,
when grease was applied for battle,
enemy shells would glance off rather
than strike full force.
An 18-foot solid oak prow covered with
2-inch iron and tapering to a 4-inch edge
formed the ram itself and was the
formidable pail of the Albemailes arma¬
ment. She carried only six cannons,
including two “Brooke” rifles, which
revolved on pivots. Each fired 60-pound
shot through three portholes, two on
each side and one at each end. They
were protected by iron porthole covers
that were raised for firing.
When outfitted, she drew eight feet of
water, and her props were driven by two
200-horsepower engines, one of which
had been recovered front a sawmill.
Near the end of construction. Captain
James W. Cooke. CSN. took command
and promised General Robert F. Hoke
the ship would be ready to attack Ply¬
mouth harbor when called upon. He was
an indefatigable foreman as well as gal¬
lant officer and soon acquired the nick¬
name of "Captain Ironmonger” for
tracking down scrap iron as far away as
Wilmington to be made into bolts, nuts
and plates. Liter, he lived up to his rep¬
utation as an officer who would "fight a
|K)wder magazine with a coal of fire."
Also expediting the work was an inven¬
tion of Peter Smith of Scotland Neck
(see The State, December 1984) who per¬
fected a drill which cut a 1 1 /4-inch hole
in or on plates in four minutes
rather than 20.
On April 18. 1864. when the
Albemarle started down river for
battle, armor plates still lay on
her deck, and up to the last
minute Captain Cooke did dou¬
ble duty. With one breath he
supervised the blacksmiths and
carpenters and with the next
drilled his “green” gun crew.
About three miles above Ply¬
mouth and I
1/2
miles above
Warren's Neck or Thoroughfare
Gap. they found the river
blocked with sunken ships and other
obstructions, making night passage ques¬
tionable. The builder. Elliott, who had
joined the crew as a volunteer, was
granted permission to take the pilot and
scout the river for a safe channel.
To our great joy. there was 10 feet of
water above the obstructions." Elliott
wrote in a Century magazine story.
Stealthily rowing on downstream, they
looked over Plymouth and its harbor.
“With muffled oars and almost afraid to
breathe, we made our way back and
reported to Captain Cooke about 1 a.m."
So that they could v<! ly get over the
The Albemarle.
The Slatc/Scpsc mber 1993
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