Iron Ships, Iron Men

by Christopher Nicole

  Rod considered, and shook his head. ‘It can only fail if they do not come at all.’

  Buchanan smiled. ‘Oh, they’ll come, Rod. Lincoln has ordered Farragut to take Mobile, and Farragut is a simplistic man; he will endeavour to carry out the order. They’ll come. And this time we will give them the bloodiest of noses. I can hardly wait.’

  *

  With a cooeeing of whistles, the seamen and marines on board the USSTippecanoe stood to attention to greet their new captain. While Commander Jeremiah McGann felt tears spring to his eyes as he stood to attention at the head of the gangway, and saluted his new ship and her company.

  Officially described as a schooner-rigged gunboat, theTippecanoe was three masted, and was actually square-rigged on her foremast, although schooner-rigged on the main and mizen. Amidships rose her funnel, carrying the exhaust from her two Martin boilers, which would deliver four hundred horsepower to her single shaft engine, and would give her a speed of some eleven knots under power.

  The ship was ultra modern, in that she had an amidships bridge deck just forward of the funnel, from which she could be conned with the greatest ease, while with her long bowsprit and considerable forward canvas she was as pretty as it was possible for a ship to be. One hundred and fifty-eight feet long on her waterline, twenty-five feet in her beam, and with a draft of only ten feet, she was a perfect compromise, able to keep the sea when she had to, but designed to operate in shallow draft estuaries as well, with perfect safety. She had been built in only ninety days, one of an entire class hastily commissioned by Congress at the outbreak of the war, and had already seen considerable service. Now she was his, to take into action. And she was well equipped for the task ahead, for in addition to her three-point-seven inch Parrott rifled cannon, and her eleven-inch smooth bore, she carried two twenty-four-pounder howitzers, for attacking fortresses and land defences of every kind. Her complement was eighty-five officers and men, all of whom were standing to attention to greet their new captain as he came on board.

  ‘I am a proud man, Lieutenant Snibboe,’ he confessed to his Executive Officer.

  ‘We are all proud men, sir,’ Snibboe rejoined. ‘To have you in command.’ The news of the epic battle with theAlabamahad reached the fleet, and every man who had served on board theKearsage was regarded with awe. ‘Is it true that some forty of the rebels reneged on their surrender and escaped with British connivance?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ Jerry said. He knew he would have done the same, if offered the opportunity, and especially if his name had been Rod Bascom. Nor was he even very resentful that Rod had escaped him once again. They would meet eventually, he had no doubt, even if he assumed that Rod had elected to remain in the safety of his native England rather than again risk taking up arms for the dying Confederacy. For the moment, he was just happy to be here, with Mobile under his guns, so to speak. For as far as he knew, Marguerite and Joey were still in the city.

  He had barely placed his gear in his cabin when a midshipman was knocking on the door. ‘Message fromHartford, sir,’ the boy said. The USSHartford was the flagship. ‘All commanding officers are requested to report on board for dinner.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Greenham.’ Jerry waited while his new servant, Seaman Simpson, dusted off his jacket, checked his sword and epaulettes. Then he went on deck as the launch was being lowered into the water, to be rowed across to the frigate.

  ‘Jerry.’ Farragut squeezed his hands. ‘I am delighted that you got here in time. And it is, just in time. Now that my big monitors have at last arrived, I propose to attack the moment weather conditions are favourable. But you ... you have covered yourself with glory, since we last met.’

  ‘You sent me to do a job, sir,’ Jerry reminded him.

  ‘Indeed I did. And you did it well. But I also promised you a successful end to this war. And from our point of view, that is close at hand. I am only sorry that I may not be able to allow you sufficient time to get to know your men and your ship before taking them into action.’

  ‘I have the utmost confidence in them, sir. They seem to be a fine body of men.’

  ‘As I am sure they have total confidence in you. Now,, come and meet my Captains. You know Captain Drayton, of course. He commandsHartford.’

  Jerry shook hands with the flag captain, and then with the other commanders of the ships assembled for the assault on Mobile — most of whom he had already met as well. There were eighteen in all, for in addition to the seven frigates and seven gunboats or sloops, there were four of the Ericsson ironclad gun platforms. The original Ericsson design, the USSMonitor, which had so successfully repelled the CSSVirginiain Hampton Roads two years before, had revealed the defects in her sea-keeping qualities by foundering only a few months after that famous battle, while on tow to take part in the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina. Since then, Ericsson had been back to the drawing-board, and two of Farragut’s monitors, theTecumsehand theManhattan, were sea-going in every way, while each carried, in their single revolving turret, two monster fifteen-inch rifled cannon, the heaviest guns ever seen afloat; these two remarkable ships had only just joined the fleet before the arrival of Jerry himself, as Farragut had told him.

  The other two monitors were of the original design, and were intended for river work only, but they had got here in safety, and now they would be operating in the shoal waters in which they were most deadly.

  ‘You will be our spearhead, gentlemen,’ Farragut told the monitor captains over dinner. ‘You will attack, and hopefully contain, both the fort and the Confederate ram which is lurking beyond it. I know she is reputed to be impervious to shot, but the word here is contain; you will do aMonitor on her, and enable us to follow you into the bay, and proceed up to the city.’

  ‘With respect, sir,’ asked one of the monitor captains. ‘Do we understand that it is your intention to enter the bay with the main fleetbefore the fort and the ironclad have been neutralised?’

  ‘That is my intention, yes,’ Farragut replied. He looked from face to face, daring anyone to tell him that he was risking annihilation, both from the forts as he endeavoured to pass, and from theTennessee, should she fight off the monitors and follow him. Then he smiled. ‘I am aware of the dangers, gentlemen, but warfare is an option of dangers. Now as you know, the fort may well choose to ignore the monitors, and concentrate their fire on us. To offset this, I have determined that the fleet will proceed in pairs. That is, we shall lash a gunboat to the side of each frigate; thus bound together, the two ships will proceed at matching speeds. The gunboats will not only protect the hulls of the frigates, but the size of the frigates will, hopefully, prevent the gunboats from sinking, even if they are badly damaged. I am sorry, gentlemen,’ he said to the gunboat captains, ‘to have to place your ships at such risk, but it is the frigates which will carry the day, should we get them past the forts intact. Now, our attack will be carried out the very moment both the wind and the tide are fair, as from now.’ Another look around their faces. ‘The USSBrooklynwill lead the line. The USSHartfordwill be second in line. Lashed to her will be the USSTippecanoe. I will now read you the other dispositions.’

  Chapter Fourteen: Mobile Bay and after — 1864-65

  JERRY awoke to a touch on his shoulder. He had in fact slept soundly, as it had been his third night on board. Both the previous days he had spent inspecting every facet of his ship, exercising her, and exercising his men, as well; the wind had remained persistently in the north, which meant that the smoke of any battle would have drifted back into the eyes of the Federal fleet, making it doubly difficult for it to negotiate the narrow channel, and in addition the flood tide had been at its strongest during the hours of darkness — and because of the slow speed which would have to obtain in the approach, a flood tide was essential — thus the weather conditions Farragut deemed essential for a successful attack had not yet obtained. But Farragut was a patient commander, and was prepared to wait for the exact circumstances he wanted.

  Jerry had be
en glad of the delay, as he did want sufficient time to get to know his command, if possible. He was also delighted to have been chosen to be the flagship’s ‘twin’, even if it might mean the destruction of his first ship in short order — he did not doubt that the Admiral meant to be in the very thick of the fight. Common sense told him theTippecanoe had been selected entirely because she was under a brand new captain who might not yet understand all of the manoeuvres practised so often by the remainder of the fleet, but he also wanted to feel it was because he and Farragut had fought together before, successfully.

  Now he sat up to blink at Simpson, standing above him. ‘The flagship is signalling, sir.’

  Jerry was out of his bunk in a moment. ‘What time is it?’

  ‘Three o’clock, sir.’

  Jerry dragged on his uniform, assisted by the orderly, splashed water on his face from the basin Simpson was holding, and hurried on deck; he would have to shave later. It was a clear night, with only the faintest suggestion of a dawn mist beginning to gather over the land to the north; the arrangement of lanterns in the rigging of theHartford was easily visible, and was a signal every captain in the fleet had learned to recognise by heart — it meant, ‘prepare for action’. And it was easy to determine why; the tide was flooding, and the light wind had backed to the southwest. That might be a portent of bad weather on the way, but these were exactly the conditions for which the Admiral had been waiting.

  Snibboe was also on deck by now. ‘Shall I raise steam, sir?’

  Jerry nodded. ‘And prepare to weigh anchor. The sooner we are in position, the better.’

  For it had been no part of Farragut’s plan that the Confederates should have any idea of how he meant to tackle the problem in front of him, and therefore the fourteen wooden ships had been left at anchor some distance apart, as if they would approach the harbour in conventional line ahead formation. Now the gunboats all began to raise steam in order to go alongside their respective frigates. Fenders were already being slung over the port side of the flagship, as Jerry, the anchor raised, took his place on the bridge and himself brought his ship round in a wide circle to ease her alongside the larger vessel. Above him he could see the figure of Farragut himself, perched in the rigging to oversee what was happening; his flag captain, Drayton, was immediately beneath him.

  TheTippecanoe came alongside with hardly a bump, the lines were thrown and secured, and quickly heavier warps, reinforced with chain, were being carried between the two vessels to bind them fast together. ‘That was well done, Commander McGann,’ Farragut said quietly. ‘Speed will be four knots until we are past the fort.’

  ‘Aye-aye, sir,’ Jerry said. Obviously they could not steam faster than the monitors, until the fort was silenced. Then it was necessary to wait, while the other ships slowly took up their positions. But there was still a lot to be done, in making sure the ship was stripped for action, all inflammable bulkheads sent below for safety, fenders arranged on the sloop’s port side, as that would be most exposed to the close-range fire from the fort if the monitors failed in their allotted task of silencing the Confederate defences, and piping all hands to breakfast. Jerry himself went below to shave, while all the time the darkness began to fade to grey, before paling still further with the first hint of sunrise. By then the tide was running strongly into the narrows ahead of them, and the ships were tugging at their anchor chains.

  At daybreak, Jerry went on board the flagship to have a cup of coffee with Farragut, and receive any last-minute instructions.

  ‘It will be hotter work than at New Orleans,’ Farragut promised him. ‘But perhaps not so hot as off Cherbourg, eh, Jerry?’

  ‘I think, perhaps, hotter, sir,’ Jerry confessed. ‘We learned from survivors of theAlabama that we were lucky; their powder was suspect. Certainly she should have sunk us in the first half hour of the fight, had all her shells exploded.’

  ‘Well, then, perhaps fortune does favour the brave. May it do so again today. And remember this, Jerry, no matter what happens, we are here destroying the very last hope of the Confederacy, with the last of their ships.’ Farragut shook his hand. ‘Now let us both do our duty, to our country, and to posterity.’

  And to our families? Jerry wondered. Farragut was certainly in a position to make that resolve. But I at least have a son, he reminded himself.

  Now the fleet was ready, the time was six-thirty, and the four monitors, led by the two new giants, were beginning to move slowly through the water. Jerry rejoined theTippecanoe, the orders were given to weigh anchor on the frigates, and steam was raised. The column of fourteen ships, in seven pairs, swung into line behind the monitors, the USSBrooklyn, Farragut’s old flagship from New Orleans, leading the way, theHartfordimmediately behind her, with theTippecanoe strapped to her side.

  In the growing daylight, the land in front of them was clearly delineated, although the low, tree-clad islands which formed the southern extremity of the bay itself were merged against the background; the city of Mobile was of course as yet invisible, as it was nearly another twenty miles up the estuary of the Alabama River. The fleet proceeded at dead slow to match their speed to that of the monitors, which preceded them like the futuristic monsters they were, their turrets turning from side to side like giant eyes, seeking out their enemies. Because of the flooding tide, their speed over the ground was actually about double their speed through the water, and now Jerry, standing on the bridge of theTippecanoe, and heated by the rising sun which was playing full upon the Federal squadron, could make out Fort Morgan on the western end of Mobile Point, the long, narrow peninsula which jutted out from Orange Beach to form the eastern arm of the harbour. Fort Gaines, on Dauphin Island to the west, was also in sight, but that would play little part in the coming battle, he knew — the passage surveyed by the Federal sailors would take the fleet within a hundred yards of Morgan. As the Confederates undoubtedly understood; beyond the fort he could see the masts of ships — the Confederate squadron.

  He looked up at his commander. Farragut had resumed his position in the rigging of theHartford, and had indeed climbed higher than before, an unusual and possibly unique position for an admiral in battle, and certainly for a man who was sixty-three years old, but he was intent on overseeing every aspect of the coming action.

  There was a gush of smoke, an accompanying rumble, and a plume of water from beside the leading monitor, theTecumseh, as Fort Morgan opened fire. Instantly the monitor’s turret turned and she blazed away in return, immediately joined by her sister, theManhattan, the fifteen-inch guns making enormous explosions, and their shells sending huge pillars of smoke and rock screaming skywards where they struck the land — while the smaller eleven-inch cannon of the other two gun platforms joined in the action as well.

  ‘SignalBrooklynto increase speed and move up alongsideTecumseh, on her western side,’ Farragut called down to the waiting midshipman below him. ‘Those forts will not take much more of that pounding, and we must be ready to move into the bay. Commander McGann,’ he shouted down to Jerry, ‘we are preparing to increase speed. Stand by.’

  Jerry waved his understanding of the intention, and passed the order to his engine room, while the flags fluttered into the Hartford's rigging, and the leading pair of Federal ships began to gain speed and overtake the monitors, on the side away from the fort, theHartfordand theTippecanoe close behind, while the rest of the squadron followed. Now the action to the right of them was general, as the monitors were all firing as quickly as they could reload, and were being replied to, not only by the fort, but by the guns of the ironclad ram which now came into view; this was the first time Jerry had ever seen one of these Confederate inventions, and he was amazed, both at its unconventional shape and very slow movements, but also at the power of its guns, which were sending shot slamming into the monitors, sufficient to shatter any wooden vessel, although without doing very much damage to the armoured ships, that he could see. Some of her shot, however, whether by accident or design could not b
e determined, came over the low gun rafts and began to fall amongst the wooden ships.

  Whereupon a seaman on theHartford, instructed by Captain Drayton, climbed into the rigging with a length of rope, to bind the Admiral to his shroud. Apparently nothing was going to bring Farragut down from his perch.

  So far the Federal squadron had not fired a shot, as they could hardly do so without hitting the monitors, who were between them and the fort. It was galling to be peppered without being able to reply, and one of theTennessee’sshells actually hit theTippecanoe, causing some damage and starting a small fire which was quickly doused by a squad of men led by Jerry himself, but as he satisfied himself that the danger was over, he heard Farragut shouting orders, and racing back up the ladder to the bridge, saw that something had gone wrong up front. TheBrooklynand her consort had by now drawn level with theTecumseh, and might have been about to pass her, but both ships seemed to have lost way, and theBrooklynwas actually turning out of the line, to point her bows at the fort, endeavouring to stem the current; theTecumseh continued to be swept forward.

  ‘What the devil is happening?’ Jerry snapped, and Snibboe levelled his binoculars.

  ‘There are some buoys ahead of them, sir,’ he reported. ‘Not in the channel as given to us. I wonder if the Confederates can have altered the approach?’

  ‘That is impossible,’ Jerry declared. ‘And if itwerepossible, the Confederates would hardly have buoyed it for our use. It must be some kind of ...’ he never finished the sentence, for there was the most enormous explosion, and a column of smoke and steel rose straight into the air from the bows of theTecumseh. While the rest of the fleet, and no doubt the Confederates as well, watched in horror, the big steel vessel seemed to dip her bow and dive straight down, her screws climbing into the air, and still revolving helplessly before they too disappeared into the water.