| dc.description.abstract | On 5 October 1863, the small cigar-shaped Confederate torpedo boat David, with a crew of only four men, exploded a torpedo against the hull of the US frigate New Ironsides. It was a stealthy and shocking blow. New Ironsides was one of the most powerful warships of the time, mounted a tremendous armament, and had a crew of seven hundred men, yet it was put out of commission by the experimental semi-submersible David. The attack conveyed an element of psychological terror for it utilized a technology, torpedoes, seen as uncivilized by the entrenched institutions of a powerful navy. This event has been cited as the beginning of the age of torpedo warfare, and provided the impetus for the modern-day torpedo boat, if not also the modern submarine. Yet little is known of David and its ilk.
The small vessel was conceived and built as a private venture in Charleston, South Carolina. Just months after the attack on New Ironsides, other David-style vessels were produced in the region by private parties seeking to create a flotilla to be used by both the Confederate Navy and Army. The exact number of David-type vessels built during the American Civil War has, to this point, been a matter of highly varying speculation. Due to the necessarily secretive nature of these craft, their non-government origins, and the loss of several key archival record collections, most published accounts of these torpedo boats are filled with inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and conjecture. This dissertation draws upon a plethora of sources, many previously unknown or under-utilized, including diaries, memoirs, photographs, and newspaper articles, to supplement the official records of the Union and the Confederacy. It is the first attempt at a truly comprehensive history of the David-style torpedo boats.
In the course of collating the story, surprising conclusions have been reached. Contrary to previous conjecture, it is clear that fewer than one-dozen David-style vessels were produced, they were built only in the Charleston area, and their construction and deployment involved a limited number of key participants. Once quantified, the ultimate fates of most of the vessels have been traced with an eye towards potential archaeological assessment. | en |
