April 9, 1864 – CSS Squib vs. USS Minnesota: Tiny Confederate Torpedo Boat Attacks Giant Union Frigate

This day 150 years ago in Rebel Raiders’ History

-Dedicated to Civil War episodes, battles, people and ships that also appear in my game, GMT’s Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.

April 9, 1864 – CSS Squib vs. USS Minnesota: Tiny Confederate Torpedo Boat Attacks Giant Union Frigate 

Historical Event:   Under the cover of darkness on April 9, 1864, six Rebel sailors under the command of Lt. Hunter Davidson quietly steamed their tiny little torpedo launch out into Hampton Roads to strike one of the largest and mightiest men-o-war in the Union fleet: the great USS Minnesota.  The aptly named CSS Squib carried but a single spar-mounted torpedo, while the Yankee warship mounted 47 guns of many calibers.  The small armored launch struck home, caused something of a panic aboard the great steam frigate, and got away – no mean feat in the middle of a Union squadron.   The USS Minnesota also survived, suffering more embarrassment than damage.

USS Minnesota was one of the largest of the pre-war frigates.  She was the flagship of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, sank or captured 22 blockade runners and added her guns to the bombardments of Fort Fisher.  In March 1862 she fought heroically against the CSS Virginia when the iron monster made its first foray.  Despite being driven aground, the USS Minnesota kept on fighting, with her gunners firing over 500 rounds at the Rebel ironclad during that two-day battle. 

CSS Squib was one of a class of fast little torpedo boats, a cousin to the more famous CSS David, which attacked the USS New Ironsides in Charleston Harbor in October 1863 – and with considerably more effect, doing enough damage to put the big ship out of action for a time.

Game Connection:  Union frigates play many roles in Rebel Raiders on the High Seas.  Like USS Minnesota, they bombard Confederate port batteries, intercept blockade runners and even hunt down the raiders for whom the game is named.  The Confederates have many weapons at their disposal to try to break the blockade, among them the CSS Squib’s cousin, CSS David, which appears in the game as CSN Card 63.  Her target, USS New Ironsides, is also in the game, as a counter and as USN Card 26.

USS New Ironsides: U.S. Navy’s First Armored Steam Frigate

The Ships of Rebel Raiders    - The Men o’ War

Rebel Raiders on the High Seas is a strategic game of the Civil War which focuses on the role of the navies on the rivers, along the coasts and on the oceans.  While most ships are represented by generic counters for Ironclads, Blockade Runners, Gunboats, Screw Sloops and, of course Raiders, there are cards and corresponding counters for many individual vessels.  This series presents those cards and offers a glimpse into the history of these storied ships.

USS New Ironsides:  U.S. Navy’s First Armored Steam Frigate

The first of a new breed of modern warships, the USS New Ironsides (USN Card 26) was an ocean-going, wooden-hulled, armored man-o-war; a true battleship, with plenty of big guns, powerful steam engines – and even a ram, just in case.

Protected by 4.5 inches of belt armor, the USS New Ironsides would be hit many, many times by the Confederate guns she dueled with at Charleston and Fort Fisher – but like her namesake, the original “Old Ironsides” (USS Constitution) most shots seemed to bounce off; she was never seriously damaged by enemy fire.  USS New Ironsides, however, did have the dubious distinction of being the first victim of a submarine (technically a “semi-submersible torpedo boat”)– when the CSS David (CSN Card 65) set off a spar torpedo on October 5, 1863.  Damage, however, was minor – USS New Ironsides remained on station.

 (In Rebel Raiders, if the Confederate player declared an attack with the CSS David card on a Union warship, say the USS New Ironsides, each side would roll one die, with the Confederate player adding one to his die if his target is the only warship in the port or blockade space.  If the Confederate die roll is higher, the Union ship is sunk.)

USS New Ironsides was the flagship for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont (USN Card 54) during the April 1863 naval attack on Fort Sumter and the other defenses of Charleston harbor, and went back into the harbor for the second attack on Charleston.  She also supported the abortive assault by the gallant 54^th Massachusetts (as depicted in the movie, Glory) on Fort Wagner, and took part in the two bombardments of Fort Fisher, the second of which resulted in a Union victory in January 1865.  

Decommissioned and laid up in Philadelphia after the war, she was the victim of an accidental fire, allegedly caused by a watchman’s unattended stove, and burned and sank in December 1866.