Description:

DESPERATE TIMES ON A UNION TORPEDO BOAT
JOHN L. LAY Union Navy engineer and commander of the innovative and effective torpedo boat U.S.S. Spuyten Duyvil. Fine content war-date L.S. as commander of the U.S.S. Sputen Duyvil, 2pp. legal folio, 'James River, Va.', Feb. 11, 1865 to Comm. WILLIAM RADFORD who commanded the Ironclad Division in the attacks on Fort Fisher. Lay complains of atrocious condition aboard the Spuyton Duyvil, urgently requesting a tender to provide accommodations 26 officers and men, and storage for 75 torpedoes and 30-40 tons of coal. He complains that at present, the officers and crew sleep among the torpedoes and machinery, must mess aboard another ship,and that his torpedoes are stored onshore by the army. At bottom, Comm. HOMER C. BLAKE (1822-1880), whose vessel USS Hatteras was sunk by Semmes' CSS Alabama, urges an immediate solution. Folds, some marginal tears and a few minor stains, else very good. On Dec. 12, 1864 the Sputen Duyvil was ordered up the James River to help assure Union control of that vital waterway during Grant's drive on Richmond. She arrived at Akin's Landing on 15 December, and she operated on the upper James slightly below the Confederate obstructions through most of the remaining months of the campaign. A highlight of her service came on the night of 23/24 January 1865 when the Confederacy's James River Squadron launched its downstream assault on the Union squadron. During the ensuing Battle of Trent's Reach, Spuyten Duyvil supported Onondaga, the only monitor then on the river.

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April 1, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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