February 20, 1864: A New Respect for Torpedoes After the Housatonic

FEBRUARY 20TH, 1864:   Rear Admiral Dahlgren, greatly concerned by the loss of the USS Housatonic, wrote in his dairy:  "The loss of the Housatonic troubles me very much....  Torpedoes have been laughed at; but this disaster ends that."

The day before he had written Secretary Welles urging that the Union develop and use torpedo boats to combat similar Confederate efforts.  Under the impression that the submarine H.L. Hunley had been another "David" torpedo boat, the Admiral suggested "a large reward of prize money for the capture or destruction of a 'David'.  I should say not less than $20,000 or $30,000 for each.  They are worth more than that to us."

Watching Out for Those Pesky Confederate Subs and Davids.  --Old B-Runner

The Rafael a Machine Gun, Not a Repeating Cannon

In the last post, I mentioned that President Lincoln and two members of his cabinet witnessed the testing of the Rafael repeating cannon at the Washington Navy Yard under the guidance of John A. Dahlgren, noted for development of the Dahlgren cannons.

Evidently, this was taken to mean that the Rafael was a cannon that could be fired very rapidly.  Further research would indicate that the Rafael was actually a machine gun.  I'll be writing about it in tomorrow's Saw the Elephant Blog since it was intended more for Army use.

When Is a Rafael Not a Rafael?  --Old B-R'er

Naval Happenings 150 Years Ago: August 5th to August 7th, 1862: Loss of the CSS Arkansas

AUGUST 5TH

U.S. Naval forces aide Army in defense of Baton Rouge and defeat Confederate attack.


AUGUST 6TH

The CSS Arkansas, under temporary command of Lt.Henry Stevens, became unmanageable after engine failure while advancing to support the Confederate attack on Baton Rouge.  Stevens ordered it destroyed to prevent capture.  Regular Arkansas commander Brown had become ill and was not on the ship at the time, knew that critical repairs were needed on the ship and had ordered Stevens not to move her until his return.

However, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn had ordered the Arkansas into battle to ensure the success of his attack on Baton Rouge which would have reopened the important Red River supply line to the Confederates.


AUGUST 7TH

President Lincoln and Secretaries Seward and Stanton visited Captain Dahlgren at the Washington Navy Yard for a two hour demonstration of the "Rafael" repeating cannon.  Later, Dahlgren took the group on board a steamer to cool off and rest.

CSS Florida departed Nassau under Wilmington, NC, native Lt. John Newland Maffitt.

Old B-Runner