“This boat, the first of the class known as ‘Davids,’ was built at his own expense by a citizen of Charleston, Mr. Theodore D. Stoney. He was aided in fitting it out by the counsel of Capt. F. D. Lee and Dr. St. Julien Ravenel. Having a length of about thirty feet, a diameter of five and a half feet at its middle, and ballasted so as to float deeply in the water, it was painted above the line a bluish-gray color. The torpedo, carried at its bow by a hollow iron shaft about fourteen feet ahead of the boat, was a copper cylinder charged with about 100 pounds of rifle powder, and provided with four sensitive tubes of lead containing an explosive mixture.”
Lieut. W. T. Glassell, with three men, went out on the night of October 5, 1863, and ran the torpedo against the side of the New Ironsides. It was exploded three feet under water, where the ship’s armor was three inches thick and the wood backing sufficient. No material harm was done, but the water thrown up partly submerged the tiny boat, and she was abandoned by all but one man, who could not swim. He held on to her, and, as she did not sink, another of her crew came to her as she drifted with the tide, and the two took her back to Charleston. Glassell and the other man were taken prisoners.
The boat was called David because, although small, she was supposed to be a match for any nautical Goliath afloat.
The partial success of this boat encouraged the Confederates to construct others. The most famous of these was built at Mobile, in 1863, by Hundley & McClintock, according to Scharf, and while there she sank, and drowned her crew. She was raised and taken to Charleston, where Beauregard put her in service. As described by the Confederate General Maury:
“She was built of boiler iron, about thirty-five feet long, and was manned by a crew of nine men, eight of whom worked the propeller by hand; the ninth steered the boat and regulated her movements below the surface of the water; she could be submerged at pleasure to any desired depth, or could be propelled on the surface. In smooth still water she could be exactly controlled, and her speed was about four knots. It was intended that she should approach any vessel lying at anchor, pass under her keel, and drag a floating torpedo, which would explode on striking the side or bottom of the ship attacked. She could remain submerged for half an hour without inconvenience to her crew.”
Sketch Showing Torpedo Boats as Constructed at Charleston, S. C.
From “The Navy in the Civil War.”
The story of her career in Charleston, as told by Scharf, is one of the most striking in naval warfare, for it shows the quality of the American when fully in earnest:
“Lieut. Payne, C. S. N., and a crew of eight men were preparing to take her out for action one night when she was swamped by the wash of a passing steamer and all hands except Payne were drowned. Again she was raised, and once more sunk—this time at Fort Sumter wharf, when six men were drowned, Payne and two others escaping. When she was brought to the surface, Hundley took her into the Stono River, where, after making several successful dives, she stuck her nose into the mud, and every soul on board perished by suffocation. For the fourth time she was raised, and experiments were made with her in Charleston harbor. She worked beautifully until she attempted to dive under the receiving ship Indian Chief, when she fouled a cable, and once more she proved a coffin for every man within her. Divers brought her up a week later, and Lieut. George E. Dixon, of Capt. Cothran’s Co. of the 21st Ala. Inf’y, asked permission of Gen. Beauregard to try her against the Housatonic, a splendid new ship-of-war, which lay in the North Channel off Beach Inlet.