The Daily Dispatch: May 24, 1864., [Electronic resource]

The Albemarle in the Sound

‘ One of the severest naval fights of the war came off below here yesterday, in the Albemarle Sound. Our iron clad, Albemarle, accompanied by one small gunboat which our forces captured at this place, started upon an expedition for Newbern.--Doubtless you are now looking for her in the rear of that place. When they entered the Sound and got about twenty miles from the mouth of the Roanoke they were attacked by twelve large steamers, (Yankee,) four of them man of war. They sunk our little gunboat the first fire and took the crew prisoners, numbering about 25 men. But the iron-clad stood the test. The enemy fought her at very close quarters; poured broadside after broadside upon her with about eighty guns at a time, but she would give them her two guns in return. They even run their vessels upon the how and stern of of our beat, but she would shake them off and rally to her work again. They tried to blow her up with torpedoes but failed to hurt her.

’ The fight lasted three hours, till dark, when our glorious little ram, with her brave crew, steamed back to this place, the enemy not daring to follow. The Albemarle sunk three of their largest steamers, besides damaging three or four more. She was hurt but very little. Her smoke stack was riddled so that her commander, Captain Cooke, could not get draft enough to raise steam, and this compelled him to return. In doing so he had to burn all his bacon, lard, and oil, to raise steam.--The Albemarle was struck sixty-two times, one shot of which hurt her, breaking both bars of a portion of her armor, or rather breaking one bar and driving in the second, which splintered the wood on the inside and wounded four of the crew slightly — so slightly that they continued their duties.

One of the Albemarle's guns had some three feet knocked off the muzzle at the first fire, but she fired forty-six rounds in her broken condition Captain Cooke said the Confederacy might congratulate itself on the safe return of the Albemarle to Plymouth. The Yankees tried to throw a keg of powder down her smoke stack to blow her up, but failed. They tried to drop an anchor on her propeller to stop her. It was at this point that our men shot the whole stern off the Yankee man-of-war engaged in the work, and it was a grand sight to see her go down, though in but twenty feet water. This vessel had five two hundred pound rifle guns on her, five 11-inch Dahlgren guns, and two other large guns in her bow and stern. We also sunk the Miami, another large vessel carrying ten guns and Captain Cooke thinks the third vessel was the Eutaw.

These are the facts of the fight of the Albemarle. When she starts again she will be O K. She will shortly have a new smoke stack and another gun to replace the broken one, and then you may look out for her again. She lies this morning opposite our camp, her shout down the river. She will go down to the mouth of the Roanoke to-day.