Albemarle Sound NC013

supportedunresolved Before the action Smith reported the ram in the Roanoke with three steamers and 30 barges 'said to be ready' to cooperate, and afterward had no positive information about rebel barges reported at the mouth of the Croatan (the compiler queries Chowan). He says the smaller vessels answered signals without obeying them, and that a signal from the Wyalusing that she was sinking, which he learned only later was wrong, deterred further ramming. Cooke says the smoke kept him from seeing the damage he did, and he learned by flag of truce that no one on the Bombshell was hurt.

Contemporary reports of what each commander knew or believed; the signal logs were not inspected.

supportedunresolved Cooke says his tiller gave way, he could not raise steam enough to maneuver, his smokestack was riddled, and he burned the bulkheads, bacon and lard to make steam to regain the river. Smith says the Bombshell was laden with provisions and coal, that the army furnished eight torpedoes which could not be placed at the river's mouth, and that he had received the balsas sent by canal.

Material and equipment statements from interested reports; no damage survey or ordnance return was inspected.

supportedunresolved Smith says he had decided to stay in the sound until his mission was accomplished and was arranging to 'secure' the ram; his order of attack names the object as to sink, destroy or capture it, and he intended to keep control of the sound. Cooke says he left Plymouth under orders of the 5th to convoy the Cotton Plant to Alligator River with the Bombshell as tender.

Stated aims from interested contemporary reports.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen result is Inconclusive; the live Results field reads 'Indecisive', and NPS calls the action a draw, with the Bombshell recaptured and the Sassacus badly damaged. Smith says his efforts to capture the ram failed, that his shot had no perceptible effect, and that he drove her into the Roanoke; he reports the Bombshell captured with 37 prisoners on May 6 and with 33 on May 24. Cooke says the Bombshell was forced to surrender, the muzzle of his after gun was broken, and he believes he sank one of the enemy's most formidable boats and crippled two others. Smith times the action from 4:40 to about 7:30; Cooke from twenty minutes to five until after dark.

Opposed interested accounts; Cooke's sinking claim is his belief. The two Smith prisoner counts differ and are kept. Retain the original result and engagement interval; later movements and campaign contribution are different measures. No new probabilities or individual causal credit.

disputedpost_outcome The frozen casualty field reads 88 total; the live page reads zero. Smith's May 6 letter gives his loss in 'the large vessel' as 5 killed and 26 wounded, before returns from the Sassacus; the Mattabesett surgeon's list names two killed and six wounded (a count of the names). The Bombshell's crew was captured (37 or 33 prisoners, above). Cooke reports only that no one on the Bombshell was hurt; no Albemarle casualty figure is in the selected reports.

The frozen 88's basis is not established and is not reconciled with the partial Union figures or the prisoners. The live zero is not measured absence. Original casualty returns were not inspected; preserve totals, categories, cutoffs and differences. No canonical reconciliation or casualty-based opening count; related actions must not be added without resolving population overlap.

supportedunresolved The frozen commanders are Melancton Smith (Captain) and J. W. Cooke (Commander); the live page gives 'Captain James Cooke', and the frozen ranks are kept. Smith signs as senior officer in the sounds and says he tried ramming, as the Department suggested, with the Sassacus, and was deterred from repeating it; the Miami was ordered to explode her torpedo but did not. Cooke reports to Commander Pinkney and credits pilot Hopkins with bringing the vessel back.

Roles attributed by the inspected reports. No listed commander receives automatic sole credit. The Sassacus and the Miami act here only through Smith's report, which does not name their commanders in the selected passages; Roe's own Sassacus report was opened but not selected.

unknownunresolved

No inspected return establishes matched personnel at a common opening boundary. The frozen side-specific numerical strength bounds are blank (missing_numeric_strength). No figure in this pass is adopted as a simultaneous opening force.

disputedunresolved The frozen force field reads 9 gunboats against a Confederate ram; the live Forces Engaged field reads zero. NPS says the Albemarle fought seven blockading Union ships. Smith's May 2 order of attack lists eight vessels (Miami, Ceres, Commodore Hull, Seymour, Mattabesett, Sassacus, Wyalusing, Whitehead), and his report says the Mattabesett, Wyalusing, Whitehead and Sassacus got underway to engage the ram, the steamer Cotton Plant with troops and the armed steamer Bombshell. Cooke says he saw six gunboats and then three more double-enders carrying ten to twelve guns each, and that he had the Bombshell as tender and the Cotton Plant under convoy. Smith's May 24 report names seven vessels entitled to share in the Bombshell's capture (the order of attack's eight without the Seymour).

Vessel counts from a table, a summary and two interested reports; no crew or armament return was inspected. The prize-share list is not an engagement count; that it matches NPS's seven is noted, not adopted. None is adopted as a matched opening strength; the live zeros are not measured absence.

supportedunresolved Smith says the ram came out of the Roanoke at 2 p.m. and was drawn ten miles down the sound by his picket force before the action; Cooke says he saw the gunboats about ten miles off as he reached the river's mouth. Smith says side-wheel steamers could not be laid alongside the Albemarle without disabling their wheels, and that darkness ended the action at about 7:30.

Water, distance and light described by the two commanders; no chart or log was inspected.