(map*)

The total weight of the torpedo on dry land was 20,500 pounds, divided as follows:

Pounds.

Boiler................................................ 2,000

Powder................................................ 3,000

Frame ................................................ 3,500

Anchors.............................................. 12,000

In the water the dead weight in favor of anchorage was 6,960 pounds, the balance being lost by displacement of water.

The electric cable was connected with the boiler thorough a brass stuffing-box 14 inches high, bolted and soldered to the same in order to make the joint perfectly water-proof. The manhole was provided with a leather gasket impregnated with melted Indian rubber. The boiler was tested to 50 pounds and made to resist the pressure.

The torpedo was to be exploded through a submarine electric cable entering the boiler as stated above, and connected with a fuse made by Messrs. Waldron and Kate, and of the following description:

(map*)

A glass tube 10 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, received inside a small stick of wood, A. B, on which was fastened and scaled two carbon pencils, C, with a sharp point, leaving between a distance about three thirty-seconds of an inch. The pencils were closely wrapped with two copper wires, connecting one the cable, the other the ground, conductor.

Both ends of the tube were corked and sealed, the empty room of the tube having been previously filled with fulminating powder. In order to increase the ground attraction a sheet of zone was soldered to the ground wire and nailed around one side of the frame. The torpedo was successfully sunk on the spot located by General Ripley, but while running the cable the steamer (Chesterfield) ran out of steam, and, unable to hold against the tide and wind, went aground near Fort Sumter. On the increase of the flood we had to run back a long circuit to reach Cummings Point and land the cable. It resulted from this accident that we played out 2 miles of cable, instead of cable, instead of 1, as expected.