THE " ALBEMARLE" AND THE " SASSACUS.” 633
COMMANDER W. B. CUSIIING, U. S. N.
only be estimated by his own officers, and thenavigator says clearly in his report eleven knots.We had, perhaps, the swiftest ship in the navy.We had backed slowly to increase the distance;with furious fires and a gagged engine working atthe full stroke of the pistons,— a run of over fourhundred yards, with eager and excited men count-ing the revolutions of our paddles; who shouldgive the more correct statement ?
Another part of the official report states thatthe bows of the double-enders were all frail,and had they been armed would have been in-
sufficient to have sunk the ram. Our bow, how-ever, was shod with a bronze bealc, weighing fullythree tons, well secured to prow and keel; andthis was twisted and almost entirely torn away inthe collision.
At dusk the ram steamed into the Roanoke River,never again to emerge for battle, and the objectof her coming on the day of our engagement, viz.,to aid the Confederates in an attack on New Berne ,was defeated; but her ultimate destruction wasreserved for the gallant Lieutenant Cushing, ofglorious memory.
Note.— The Navy Department was not satisfied with the first official reports, and new and special reports werecalled for. As a result of investigation, promotions of many of the officers were made.— Editors.
THE “ALBEMARLE” READY TOR ACTION.
VOL. IV. 41