The years 1863 and 1864 were a busy time for Southern inventors interested in creating a weapon that would give the Confederacy parity of a sort with the much larger and more numerous naval vessels of the United States Navy.

Undoubtedly, when inventors such as Charleston’s Dr. St. Julien Ravenel and Theodore Stoney created their CSS “David” torpedo boat, it was thoughts in equal part of both profit and patriotism that guided their minds and hands.

It was a different story at Richmond, Virginia and on the James River. After Union General George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign to take the Confederate capital ended in ignominious defeat, it fell to the United States Navy’s North Atlantic Blockade Squadron to be the cork in the James River bottle. Union warships such as screw sloops and screw frigates were based downriver at Hampton Roads. Surrounding the anchorage was a halo of armed sailing schooners, tugboats and steam-powered gunboats. These smaller vessels acted as picket boats for the Blockade Squadron and also as security for the commercial traffic between Fort Monroe and the Union Navy’s bases at Norfolk, Portsmouth and Gosport on the Elizabeth River.

Hampton Roads presented a choice target for the Confederate Navy. Attacking one or more of the Union Navy’s high-value capital ships could cause the Squadron to evacuate from Hampton Roads, maybe even Norfolk.

For direct action, the Confederate Navy’s James River Squadron based at Richmond had two casemate ironclads (CSS “Fredericksburg” and CSS “Virginia II”) already built, with two more under construction. While each of these iron monsters packed a formidable punch, their shallow draft and underpowered propulsion systems limited them to riverine warfare. Sending these slow-moving vessels against Hampton Roads would be a suicide mission.

What was needed at Richmond was their version of Charleston’s CSS “David:” a small, fast and agile boat armed with the latest in Captain Francis D. Lee’s explosive torpedoes.

Serendipity placed a designer at Rocketts, the Confederate Navy Yard at Richmond who had come up with just such a design.

Though the name of the designer is uncertain, the torpedo boat called the CSS “Squib” owes its parentage in large part to the Acting Naval Constructor at the Rocketts Yard, Mr. William A. Graves. A civilian, Graves had several of his own designs for small, fast launches already on file and built. Many were currently in use as cross-harbor transport and dispatch boats on the James River.

Outwardly, Graves’ design for a thirty-foot long, six-foot beam boat named the “Squib” was unremarkable: it resembled a typical “Graves’-style” open-topped launch of the era.

However a closer look at the”Squib” showed a boat that was anything but unremarkable.

First, its freeboard was higher than what was normally found on a launch of this size. This meant it could be used in all weathers and seas.

The middle third of the boat was designed as a “cuddy,” a covered area for crew operations and activities.

While most cuddies had a canvas tarpaulin spread to keep out the hot Southern sun and inclement weather, the “Squib’s” cuddy was covered with a large section of flattened quarter-inch thick railroad boiler iron that not only protected the crew from the sun and rain, but also small arms fire.

Also protected was the “Squib’s” unique propulsion system, a quiet-running, two-cylinder steam engine.

Able to make twelve knots or more, the engine received its steam from a compact boiler and smokestack positioned in the stern of the boat.

Here, the boat’s engineer oversaw mechanical operations, while the stoker (fireman) added coal to the firebox and kept steam up.

Because of these features, the CSS “Squib” was frequently used as a “Truce Boat,” becoming a familiar sight plying the waters between Confederate Richmond and the James River, and the Union fleet at anchorage off Hampton Roads.

The “Squib’s” outwardly peaceful appearance when on a truce mission belied a decidedly war-like purpose when the modified prow of the “Squib” was fitted with a retractable spar torpedo.

Designed and built under the guidance of the director of the Confederacy’s Submarine Battery Service, Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, CSN, the “Squib’s” primary weapon was a sixteen-foot spar-mounted torpedo containing fifty three pounds of tightly-packed and high-velocity gunpowder, its trigger a Submarine Battery copy of the latest Francis D. Lee-type chemical fuse.

It was Davidson who confirmed the “Squib’s” mission: to strike at the steam frigate USS “Minnesota,” currently the largest ship in the Union fleet anchored in Hampton Roads. Sinking the largest warship in the fleet would be a shock for the Yankee Navy, and a strategic victory for the Confederacy, as well as a huge morale booster.

In preparation for his mission, Davidson was resourceful in outfitting the “Squib.”

Anthracite coal was both smoke- and spark-less. It was also very difficult to locate.

By having his team scour the bottom of the James River near Richmond’s now-empty commercial shipping wharves, Davidson collected enough cast-off anthracite to power the “Squib” for the entire mission.

As darkness fell on April 8th, 1864, everything was ready.

Davidson and his crew raised steam and eased the CSS “Squib” into the southeast channel, passing Yankee-occupied City Point, riding the ebbing tide of the James River towards Hampton Roads.

On the way, the “Squib” passed several Union picket boats. Because of their familiarity with the “Squib’s” daytime role as “The Truce Boat,” none of the Yankee picket boats hailed her.

Just before midnight, Davidson and the “Squib” were inside the main anchorage at Hampton Roads, passing through numerous Union warships, schooners and gunboats as they searched for their target.

Around two a.m., Davidson spotted the USS “Minnesota” off his starboard quarter. Ordering full steam, Davidson spun the wheel hard to starboard, drawing a bead on the “Minnesota’s” port side as the “Squib’s” spar torpedo was lowered into the water.

Ignoring two hails and a warning shot from the “Minnesota”, Davidson ordered his engineer to stop engine.

A moment later, the “Squib’s” torpedo coasted into the side of the Yankee warship and exploded. Stacked round shot and sailors were knocked over. A huge shower of water mixed with blocks and rigging rained down.

As the stricken “Minnesota” rolled drunkenly to starboard, the “Beat to Quarters” was sounded, and her sailors quickly found their battle stations. Musket and pistol fire filled the night as the “Minnesota’s” frantic crew began shooting at anything and everything in the darkness.

They hit nothing.

While chaos and confusion were spreading through the Union fleet, Davidson and the crew of the CSS “Squib” were in trouble.

In attempting to reverse the “Squib’s” steam engine, it had seized up and refused to budge.

Without power, the “Squib” began to drift, and was soon spotted by the Union fleet’s aroused and angry sailors. Shortly, a hail of Yankee small arms fire was beginning to find the range. Various calibers began ricocheting off the “Squib’s” iron coverlet.

At that moment, the “Squib’s” steam engine caught on a huge burst of steam and began working again. Davidson turned the “Squib” just as one of the “Minnesota’s” broadside guns boomed.

Its shell exploded close at hand but caused no damage as Davidson and the “Squib” sped off into the darkness.

Back on the “Minnesota,” the damage parties were already at work. Though the outer hull of the “Minnesota” appeared untouched except for several gun port shutters missing, the explosion of Davidson’s torpedo against the “Minnesota’s” hull had done extensive internal damage.

Several ribs on her port side had been jarred loose from their fittings; a number of bulkheads had been blown in. Worse, some transverse support beams had been cracked through, weakening the “Minnesota’s” structural integrity. She was truly a wounded warship.

All this occurred when the commander of the Union Navy’s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Admiral Steven P. Lee, was on board the “Minnesota” when the “Squib’s” attack had occurred.

Furious, Lee ordered a thorough search of the rivers, creeks and marshes along Hampton Roads and the James River to find the miscreants who caused damage to his flagship.

Upon finding out which Confederate boat and who her commander was, Admiral Lee wrote a scathing letter to Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, warning him that, should the “Squib” and her crew attempt to return to their former vocation of being “The Truce Boat,” they would be fired upon.

As Lee was shaking his futile fist, Davidson was in Richmond, relating the “Squib’s” nocturnal exploits to Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Though initially irritated that Davidson had only damaged and not sunk the “Minnesota,” Davis nevertheless recommended that Davidson be promoted to Commander for his victory..

The “Squib’s” exploits sent a wave of fear through the US Navy fleet at Hampton Roads. Twenty-four-hour surveillance was ordered, with tug boats and other small vessels detailed to be on constant patrol within the anchorage.

Though she was not sunk, the damage to the USS “Minnesota” was enough for immediate repairs to be ordered, and she was removed from her position with the blockading fleet.

News of the torpedo attack by the CSS “Squib” on the USS “Minnesota” eventually found its way into the newspapers, where the fear about the South’s use of their new-found terror weapon became widespread.

From a contemporary issue of “Scientific American” came this comment on the usefulness of the Confederate Navy’s latest weapon system:

“… a little more practice, will make them perfect.”

Next time, Part 4 of the “Torpedo Boat during the Civil War” follows the further exploits of the CSS “Squib” and her sisters “Wasp”, “Hornet” and “Scorpion.”

See you then.

(Note: All graphic images of Infernal Machine game materials used in this series of articles are subjective and may change and appear different in their final form.  All images show sourcing unless otherwise noted.)

---

Previous Infernal Machine articles