Spanish Ironclad Arapiles-- Part 2: A Side Incident of the Virginius Affair

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

LENGTH:  280 feet

BEAM:   52 feet 2 inches

DRAFT:    17 feet

COMPLEMENT:    537

ARMAMENT:

Two 9-inch rifled muzzle-loaders

Five 8-inch rifled muzzle-loaders

Ten 68-pounder smoothbore guns

This was a powerful ship which most likely could have taken on most any U.S. ship at the time.

During the Virginius Affair, a lighter was sunk that blocked the drydock gates, just in case.  Of course, by the time of the Spanish-American War, this was not the case.  The American Navy was way better than the Spanish one.

This Was a Wakeup Call for the Government and the U.S. Navy.  --Old B-Runner

Caleb Cushing and the Virginius Affair

From Wikipedia.

The Virginius  Affair was a diplomatic dispute which took place from October 1873 to February 1875 between the United States, United Kingdom and Spain (then in control of Cuba) during the Ten Years' War.

The Virginius was a fast American ship hired by Cuban insurrectionists seeking to break away from Spanish control with the intention of landing men and supplies in Ciba.  It was captured by the Spanish who wanted to try the men on board (many of whom were Americans) as pirates and execute them.

And, that is what they did and 53 met their deaths before the British intervened and stopped the executions.

Throughout the situation, there was talk of the United States declaring war on Spain.  Finally the U.S. consul to Spain, Caleb Cushing  (January 6, 1874 to April 9, 1877), defused the tensions by negotiating  $80,000 in reparations to be paid to the executed Americans' families.

The incident prevented a possible war between the two countries and started a resurgence in the U.S. Navy whose fleet was actually inferior to that of Spain at the time.

--Old B-Runner

Fort Zachary Taylor-- Part 3: Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II

The East Gulf Blockading Squadron captured more than 300 Confederate blockade runners during the war and continually harassed salt-making facilities along the coast.  The cargoes were taken to key West and put up for auction.

The end of the Civil War did not end the fort's history.

In 1898, the USS Maine sailed from Key West to Havana Harbor, Cuba, where, on February 15, at 9:40 p.m., a mysterious explosion wrecked the vessel, killing three quarters of its crew, propelling the United States into Cuba's war with Spain for independence.

During World Wars I and II, Fort Taylor remained on active duty.  Radar and 5-inch anti-aircraft guns were added to the fort's defenses during World War II.  With the end of this war, Fort Taylor's use ended.  From 1947 and for almost a quarter century the fort was used as a naval savage yard.

--Old B-R'er

 

The Fall of New Orleans' Fort Jackson-- Part 2

As early as 1742, the French first built a battery there.  Later, under Spanish rule, Fort Bourbon was built there on the site of what would become Fort Jackson.  About the same time, they also built Fort San Felipe --  a predecessor to Fort Jackson's sister fort, Fort St. Phillip -- on the east bank.

With the need for even stronger defense made by the War of 182 the construction of Fort Jackson came to be at an eventual cost of $554,500.

Its foundation would be made of three layers of cypress logs, atop which would be laid  cypress planks.  From there would rise a star-shaped fort, made of bricks, protected by an outer wall and an inner moat and lined with dozens of guns.

There was such confidence  in the combined strengths of  forts Jackson and St. Phillip, which also received a modernization at the time, almost no other defense were constructed further upriver between the forts and New Orleans.

This would prove a very big mistake.

--Old B-Runner

Southport/Smithville, North Carolina: The History-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

The area where Southport is located, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina was  explored as early as the 1500s by Spanish explorers.  During the 18th century, British settlements along the Carolina coast lacked  fortifications to protect against pirates and privateers and there were numerous Spanish incursions as well.

In response to these attacks, Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston, in 1744, appointed a committee to best select the site for a fort to protect the Cape Fear River region.  It was determined that the site would be near the mouth of the river where the fort was eventually constructed.

During that same year, France declared war on Britain, later known as King George's War, increasing the need for a fort.  At the same time, Spanish privateer raids increased on the American colonies. As a result, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the construction of "Johnston's Fort" in April 1745, which would become known as Fort Johnston, the name it carried into the Civil War.

The governor of South Carolina agreed to lend ten small cannons to the fort and the legislature in , in the spring of 1748, appropriated 2,000 pounds for construction costs, and the fort finally became a reality.

The town of Smithville, later Southport, developed around the fort.

It was Smithville during the Civil War.

--Old B-Runner

The Confederate Fort At St. Marks Lighthouse

From the Civil War Florida website by Dale Cox.

I'd never heard of a fort by the lighthouse on the St, Marks River in Florida.  I wasn't even sure where the river was.  It flows into the Gulf of Mexico near the eastern edge of the Florida Panhandle.

The Confederate battery/fort that the Union ships destroyed in the last post was rectangular in shape named Fort Williams and so constructed as to defend the mouth of the St. Marks River.

It was already complete by June 1861 when the USS Mohawk arrived to enforce Lincoln's blockade.  Confederates occupied it until the summer of 1862 when it was abandoned in favor of a new fortification built upriver on the ruins of the old Spanish fort of San Marcos de Apaliche.

The fort was burned by Union sailors from the USS Tahoma and USS Somerset.

The listing in the Civil War Naval Chronology that I used for the last post made it sound like there was an actual battle that took place at Fort Williams, but this makes it seem like it was nothing more than the occupying of abandoned works.

--Old B-R'er

January 31, 1862: Effectiveness of Union Blockade Depends Upon Whom You Ask-- Part 2.

The two questions posed to various European maritime powers:  Was the sinking of the Stone Fleet in Charleston Harbor an outrage and is the blockade effective?

FRANCE:    "Pronounces the destruction of the harbor ... 'vindictive vandalism' .. the blockade to be  'ineffective and illegal'

"PRUSSIA winds up by declaring the sinking of the stone fleet to be a crime and an outrage against civilization....

"SARDINIA agrees with France, but ... in even stronger terms ...

"AUSTRIA declares 'the blockade altogether illegal' ....

"SPAIN declares blockade ... 'altogether ineffective' ...."

On the other hand, Secretary of the Navy Welles strongly maintained that the effectiveness of the blockade did "destroy any pretext on the part of the foreign governments to aid the Confederacy."

--Old B-R'er

155 Years Ago, January 17 and 18, 1862: The CSS Sumter Captures Two More Union Ships

JANUARY 17TH, 1862:  The USS Connecticut, Commander Woodhull, captured blockade running British schooner Emma off the Florida Keys.

JANUARY 18TH 1862:  The CSS Sumter, Commander Semmes, captured and burned the bark Neapolitan, with cargo of fruit and sulphur, in the Straits of Gibraltar, and captured and bonded the bark Investigator with cargo of iron.

The USS Kearsarge was ordered to Cadiz, Spain, in an effort to track the Sumter down.  This ship would later become a real big problem for Semmes.

--Old B-Runner

A Really Short History of the Dominican Republic-- Part 1

Back on Monday, August 3, I mentioned that the USS Mercedita was sent to the Dominican Republic to protect American lives and property during some turmoil taking place there.  This was a sure sign that the Civil War was over and the U.S. Navy was back to its pre-war mission.

From Wikipedia.

The Dominican Republic was a former Spanish colony from 1492 (Christopher Columbus) to 1795.  the french encroached on it from 1795 to 1809 and it became independent from 1844 to 1861 when it became a Spanish colony again. from 1861-1865.  This would go against the Monroe Doctrine, but the United States was very much involved in other things at the time.

A revolution took place and the Spanish withdrew.

This was the reason the USS Mercedita was sent to its waters.

--Old B-Runner

CSS Stonewall Puts to Sea and Attempts to Engage USS Niagara and Sacramento-- Part 1

MARCH 24TH. 1865:  The heavily armed Confederate ironclad Stonewall, Captain T.J. Page puts to sea from Ferrol, Spain, after two previous attempts had failed because of foul weather.  Page cleared the harbor at mid-morning and attempted to bring on an engagement with the wooden frigate USS Niagara and sloop-of-war USS Sacramento, under Commodore T. T. Craven.

The Sacramento was commanded by Captain Henry Walke, who had gained fame as captain of the Eads ironclad gunboat USS Carondolet in the Mississippi Campaign.  Craven had kept his ships at anchor at nearby Coruna, Spain,  and refused to accept the Stonewall's challenge.

Page wrote to Commander Bulloch in Liverpool:  "To suppose that these two heavily-armed men-of-war were afraid of the Stonewall is to me incredible...."

--Old B-Runner

CSS Stonewall Attempts to Put Out to Sea

MARCH 21ST, 1865:  The CSS Stonewall having been detained in Ferrol, Spain, for several days because of foul weather, attempted to put to sea.  However, the seas outside were still too heavy and the ironclad put back into port.

Two days alter another attempt to get to sea met with similar results.  They off-loaded some 40 tons of coal to make her more seaworthy.

--Old B-Runner

USS Niagara Watching CSS Stonewall at Ferrol, Spain

FEBRUARY 5TH, 1865:  The USS Niagara, Commodore Thomas T. Craven, learned that "the pirate ram" Stonewall was repairing at Ferrol, Spain.  He departed Dover, England, for Spain the next day but because of foul weather did not reach Coruna, Spain, some nine miles from Ferrol, until 11 February.

He requested assistance in blockading the ironclad from the USS Sacramento, but found that she was at Lisbon repairing and would not be ready for sea for ten days.  Craven himself then put into Ferrol on the 15th and maintained a close watch on the Stonewall.

Two Enemy Ships in the Same Harbor.  --Old B-Runner

CSS Stonewall Sorties

JANUARY 24TH, 1865:  At mid-morning, the CSS Stonewall, Captain T.J. Page, put into Quiberon Bay to rendezvous with the blockade-runner  City of Richmond.  The two ships remained there until January 28th when the Stonewall, still short on coal but unable to obtain more, "considered it prudent to sail."

The City of Rchmond remained with the ironclad, but by the morning of the 30th had become separated by five miles in heavy weather.  Page signaled Commander davidson on the City of Richmond that he was short of coal and intended to put into Ferrol, Spain.  The City of Richmond continued on to Bermuda.

--Old B-R'er

The Spanish Submarine Inventor: Narcis Monturioli i Estarriol

From Wikipedia.

Like I said in the last post, I had never heard of this man and his submarine. 

Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol (1819-1885) was a Spanish inventor and the first man to develop and air independent and combustion-driven submarine.  He solved the fundamental problem of underwater navigation with the first fully operational submarine.

The Ictineo I was 23 feet long, powered by humans and developed to help harvest coral.  He invented it in 1859 and made fifty dives in it before it was accidentall destroyed January 1862 when a cargo vessel ran over it.  This must have been the submarine that Confederate agent Quinterro wrote about from Mexico.

The Ictineo II was launched on October 1864, still powered by humans.  Monturiol continued experimenting and came up with a chemical combination which put out heat and oxygen.  He planned to have the heat power a small steam engine on the boat.

On October 1867, he ran the ship by steam on the water's surface and in December, he ran it submerged.

It worked, but lack of money doomed his submarine.

So, Another Sub-Marine Vessel.  --Old B-R'er

Spanish Submarine to the Rescue?

From the Civil War Naval Chronology.

APRIL 9TH

John A. Quinterro, Confederate Commissioner in Monterrey, Mexico, wrote Sec. of War Benjamin: "Narcisco Monturio [of Barcelona, Spain]...has invented a vessel for submarine navigation.  She is called the 'Ictineo' (fishlike vessel).  As a man-of-war she can prevent not only bombardment of the ports, but also landing of the enemy.  If...the necessary number of vessels [are] built, no Federal squadron would dare to approach out coasts....

The 'Ictineos' have guns which fire underwater and also rams and torpedoes.  They can navigate in a depth of twenty-five fathoms....The inventor creates an artificial atmosphere...and carries with him all the elements of existence."

Confederates were always looking for anything that might stop the North's stranglehold due to its overwhelming naval superiority.

I had never heard of a Spanish submarine.

Wiki Here I Come.  --Old B-Runner

The Cuban Missile Crisis Had a Counterpart in the Civil War-- Part 2

The blockade-runner General Rusk, though in Spanish waters was boarded and captured.  Somehow a fire broke out and destroyed the vessel.

Commander Charles S. Hunter of the USS Montgomery thought he had clear orders from Farragut to end the Rusk's blockade-running days and he was extremely proud of his accomplishment.  He boasted of it and went on to capture two more runners.

What he didn't know was that the Spanish government was enraged and even went so far as to threaten war if something wasn't done, something the Lincoln administration definitely didn't want at this point.  The good commander was court-martialed and Secretary of State Seward was forced to issue a formal apology and pay $300,000.

Hunter was cleared of military misconduct at the court martial, but guilty of violating neutral waters and removed from service.

Oh Well.  --Old B-Runner