Battle of Albemarle Sound

Other Names: None

Location: Albemarle Sound, North Carolina

Campaign: Operations against Plymouth (April-May 1864)

Date: May 5, 1864

Principal Commanders: Capt. Melancton Smith [US]; Cdr. J.W. Cooke [CS]

Forces Engaged: 9 gunboats [US]; Confederate ram [CS]

Casualties and losses: 88 total

Result(s): Inconclusive

Brief Description:

On May 5, CSS Albemarle fought seven blockading Union ships to a draw at the mouth of the Roanoke River. Federals recaptured the converted steamer Bombshell.Smith, despite an advantage in numbers, could do little damage to the single Confederate ship. Shots glanced off Albemarle's sides. Lieutenant Commander Francis Asbury Roe of Sassucus, seeing Albemarle at a range of about 400 yards, decided to ram. The Union ship struck the Confederate ironclad full and square, broadside-on, shattering the timbers of her own bow, twisting off her own bronze ram in the process, and jamming both ships together. The battle itself was a standoff, but the events that followed had more decisive results.