Browsing named entities in James Barnes, author of David G. Farragut, Naval Actions of 1812, Yank ee Ships and Yankee Sailors, Commodore Bainbridge , The Blockaders, and other naval and historical works, The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 6: The Navy. (ed. Francis Trevelyan Miller). You can also browse the collection for December 23rd, 1864 AD or search for December 23rd, 1864 AD in all documents.

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James Barnes, author of David G. Farragut, Naval Actions of 1812, Yank ee Ships and Yankee Sailors, Commodore Bainbridge , The Blockaders, and other naval and historical works, The Photographic History of The Civil War: in ten volumes, Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities, Volume 6: The Navy. (ed. Francis Trevelyan Miller), The actions with the forts (search)
Admiral Farragut's health not permitting his assumption of this duty, it was assigned to Admiral Porter. For the first attempt at the destruction of Fort Fisher there was used the most gigantic torpedo ever employed in warfare. This consisted of an old gunboat, the Louisiana, changed to resemble a blockade-runner and filled with powder. Much doubt as to the value of the experiment was entertained by experienced officers, but it was believed to be worth a trial. On the evening of December 23, 1864, she was towed in almost to the beach, the rest of the fleet keeping well off the coast. Arriving near the beach, she was cast off, and, under her own steam, ran up on the sand three hundred yards from the Fort about 11:30 P. M. The slow fuse was lit, the crew deserted her, and at 1:40 A. M. she blew up. The explosion had not the slightest effect on the works. It was a complete failure. About 12:40 P. M. that day (the 24th) the largest fleet ever assembled under the flag of the Un