{"id":42278,"date":"2018-12-27T18:27:40","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T18:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/27\/the-navys-big-green-monster\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:45:37","slug":"the-navys-big-green-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/12\/27\/the-navys-big-green-monster\/","title":{"rendered":"The Navy\u2019s big green monster!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1869, Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea<\/i><\/a>, a novel about circumnavigating the globe underwater, in which he introduced readers to Captain Nemo\u2019s submarine, Nautilus<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauded ever since for predicting the advent of maritime travel under the waves, Verne was actually expanding upon the recent inventions of various men who applied the use of \u201csub-marines\u201d to both commerce and warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brainchild of one such man \u2014 Brutus de Villeroi<\/a> \u2014 became the first submarine adopted for use by the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Villeroi had been successfully experimenting with under-the-ocean salvage vessels in his native France since the early 1830s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil War, de Villeroi \u2014 who had immigrated to the United States \u2014 offered his \u201cSub-Marine Propeller\u201d to the Union Navy in a most dramatic way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He surfaced in one of his vessels off the Philadelphia Navy Yard \u2014and was immediately arrested by the harbor police on suspicion of sabotage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern newspapers jumped on the story. The May 17, 1861, edition of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin <\/i>ran a breathless account of the event:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never, since the first flush of the news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, has there been an excitement in the city equal to that which was caused in the upper wards this morning, by the capture of a mysterious vessel which was said to be an infernal machine, which was to be used for all sorts of treasonable purposes, including the trifling pastime of scuttling and blowing up Government men-of-war.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article goes on to describe the \u201cinfernal machine\u201d in detail, giving the residents their first glimpse of a Civil War\u2013era submarine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Externally it had the appearance of a section of boiler about twenty feet long, with tapered ends, presenting the shape and appearance of an enormous cigar with a boiler iron wrapper\u2026. The after end was furnished with a propeller, which had a contrivance for protecting it from damage from coming in contact with external objects. The forward end was sharkish in appearance, and the shark idea was carried out in other respects, as only the ridge of the back was above water, while the tail and snout were submerged. Near the forward end was a hatchway or \u2018man-hole,\u2019 through which egress and ingress were obtained. This whole was covered with a heavy iron flap, which was made air tight, and which was secured in its place by numerous powerful screws and hooks. Two tiers of glass bull\u2019s eyes along each side of the submarine monster, completed its external features, afforded light to the inside, and gave it a particular wide awake appearance.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brutus de Villeroi’s submarine (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the Saturday Evening Post <\/i>ran a similarly sensational account, calling the vessel \u201ca monster, half aquatic, half aerial, and wholly incomprehensible,\u201d the New York Times <\/i>cut right to the possible application of such a craft: \u201cIt supplies its own air and will be useful in running under a fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once de Villeroi, 67, made it clear that he represented no threat to the locals, government naval representatives inspected his boat and commissioned him to build them a larger version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he had initially designed his vessel as a salvage craft, the Union Navy saw in his invention a means to clear enemy harbor entrances, as well as a weapon with which to neutralize the newly minted Southern ironclads \u2014 most specifically, the Virginia<\/i>, more popularly known as the Merrimac <\/i>or Merrimack<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy hired the aged de Villeroi to oversee construction, at an annual salary of $2,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He proved to be a temperamental genius, and the Navy was a difficult and obstinate partner. There were frequent misunderstandings and acrimonious letters between them before, finally, an embittered de Villeroi was removed from the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cM. de Villeroi was not handsomely treated by the authorities in Washington,\u201d states his obituary in the July 3, 1874, Philadelphia Inquirer<\/i>. \u201cHe was discharged and others took the glory and fruits of his labors and studies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction wasn\u2019t completed until late spring 1862 \u2014 more than four times longer than anticipated \u2014 by which time the Virginia <\/i>was no longer a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“Destruction of the Confederate Ironclad ‘Merrimack’, Blown Up by Her Commander, May 11th, 1862,” a line engraving, published in the Soldier in Our Civil War, Volume I, page 248, depicting the explosion of the Confederate ironclad Virginia (ex-Merrimack) off Craney Island, Virginia. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The finished vessel, running some 47 feet long and painted green, inspired the unofficial name Alligator<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among its brilliant innovations was an air-purifying system that filtered oxygen through lime to remove carbon dioxide \u2014 unheard of in any other sub-ocean vessel of its time. But at the Navy\u2019s insistence, it was propelled by that most ancient of methods \u2014 oars, manned by a crew of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alligator <\/i>first assignment bespeaks the Navy\u2019s ignorance regarding the use of submarines. The ship was to navigate up Virginia\u2019s Hampton Roads and destroy a railroad bridge over Appomattox Creek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were no torpedoes in use at this time \u2014 or, at least, the kind propelled from a vessel at a specific target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term \u201ctorpedo\u201d had a different application during the Civil War, referring to a floating mine or a surreptitiously planted bomb. But one of Alligator<\/i>\u2019s more futuristic innovations, anticipating the Navy SEALs of our own time, was its ability to deploy through a forward airlock a diver who could swim ashore with explosives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alligator <\/i>did not complete its mission. Fortunately for the ship and its crew, they were warned away because of shallow water, which would have necessitated surfacing \u2014 almost certainly resulting in capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy conducted tests with Alligator <\/i>over the course of the next several months, replacing its oars with a hand-cranked propeller and increasing its speed to 7 knots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Named as \u201cacting master\u201d was a civilian, Samuel Eakins, who had recently been a professional salvage diver at Sebastopol for the czar of Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eakins added a conning tower for observation to Alligator<\/i>\u2019s hull, and in early 1863, received orders for a new operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Acting Master Samuel Enkins (1812-1894), who was assigned to Union submarine Alligator in 1862 and 1863.\n(Courtesy of his son, Mr. George Enkins, in 1959, Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charleston, S.C., had been a Rebel stronghold since the Sumter surrender. Determined to capture the port city, Adm. Samuel F. Du Pont, in command of a fleet of ironclads, ordered Alligator <\/i>to clear the harbor entrance of mines and other obstructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alligator <\/i>went under tow behind USS Sumpter <\/i>[sic<\/i>], a Navy steamship, to make the sea journey to Charleston. Unfortunately, the route went around Cape Hatteras, known even then as the \u201cGraveyard of the Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sumpter<\/i>\u2019s Acting Master J.F. Winchester later described a \u201cfurious gale from SW\u201d that suddenly buffeted both vessels, and Alligator <\/i>\u2014 graceful under the water but helpless in the waves \u2014 took an especially terrible pounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its ports let in water and its metal plates came loose, letting the ocean in as it wallowed in the rough seas behind Sumpter<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually one of two the lines holding Alligator <\/i>to the mother ship parted, and \u2014 for the survival of Sumpter <\/i>and its crew \u2014 the order was given to cut the submarine loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Sumpter <\/i>struggled in the pounding waves \u2014 in Winchester\u2019s words, \u201cplunging under to the foremast\u201d \u2014 Alligator <\/i>swiftly went down at its stern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere in the depths off Cape Hatteras lies a long, green vessel with a fascinating story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps in time Alligator <\/i>will be salvaged from the ocean floor and get the attention it merits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Demise of Alligator, a drawing by Jim Christley, depicts the boat’s fate after being cut loose in rough waves near Cape Hatteras. (Office of Naval Research)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historian<\/i> Ron Soodalter<\/i><\/a> is the author of <\/i>Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trade<\/a>r. This article was <\/i>originally published<\/i><\/a> in the November 2011 issue of <\/i>America\u2019s Civil War, one of <\/i>Navy Times‘ sister magazines. To subscribe, click<\/i> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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