AUGUST 29TH, 1864: While removing Confederate obstructions from the channel leading into Mobile Bay, five sailors were killed and nine others injured when a torpedo exploded.
Farragut regretted the loss, but resolutely pressed on with the work: "As it is absolutely necessary to free the channel of these torpedoes, I shall continue to remove them, but as every precaution will be used, I do not apprehend any further accident."
Like the loss of the monitor USS Tecumseh, this event demonstrated although that some torpedoes had been made inactive by long immersion, many were very much alive when Farragut made his famous instant decision, "Damn the Torpedoes...."
Farragut Was a Very Lucky Soul That August 5th Day. --Old B-Runner
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