Plymouth and Washington County History

While Plymouth was occupied by Union forces and most of the Albemarle Sound was in their control during the spring of 1864, the confederates made plans to recapture Plymouth and drive the Union Navy from the sound. A land assault on Plymouth was planned, to be supported by the CSS Albemarle an ironclad ship constructed in a cornfield on the Roanoke River. Powered by two 200-horsepower engines with stern propellers, the Albemarle's deck and deck house was covered by a thick layer of iron plates.

Having made its way through torpedoes set by the Union Navy in the Roanoke River, the Albemarle made its way to Plymouth. She was met at dawn by two Federal vessels, the Southfield and the Miami, who had stretched a fabric of spars and chains between them to entangle the Albemarle. The Southfield was rammed and quickly sank, almost taking the Miami with it. The Miami fired on the Albemarle, but the mighty shell bounced off its ironclad deck and exploded close to the Miami, killing the officer who had fired the shot. The Miami ran, and the Albemarle turned her guns on the Union encampments in Plymouth. Meanwhile, confederate brigades were attacking the town from the south and east. After three weeks of shelling, the Federals surrendered.

Later that fall, a Union Naval officer, Lt. W. B. Cushing, conducted a clandestine attack on the Albemarle, tucking a torpedo under the overhang of her deck, exploding and sinking her. She was raised in 1867, towed to Norfolk, VA and sold for junk. Her battered smokestack is on display in Raleigh, at the NC Hall of History.