On this day, October 27, 1864, the Confederate CSS Albemarle was sunk during the American Civil War. The Albemarle docked at Plymouth, Roanoke River, North Carolina. Union Lieutenant William B. Cushing led a daring night operation to sink her. It operated a 30-foot steam-powered launch, with a crew of 13, armed with an explosive torpedo on a pole. He navigated past the Confederate pickets and made his way through a boom of trees. Under silenced fire and artillery, he jammed the torpedo under the iron hull and detonated it. The explosion tore a 6-foot hole in the ship, causing it to sink into the river mud. Most of his crew were killed or captured. Only he and one other sailor escaped. They swam through swamps to reach their lines. The Albemarle's crew survived, but without her operating on the river, Union forces managed to recapture Plymouth a few days later. Union forces raised the wreck in 1865, towed her to Norfolk, Virginia, and sold her for scrap in 1867.

On this day, October 27, 1864, the Confederate CSS Albemarle was sunk during the American Civil War. The Albemarle docked at Plymouth, Roanoke River, North Carolina. Union Lieutenant William B. Cushing led a daring night operation to sink her. It operated a 30-foot steam-powered launch, with a crew of 13, armed with an explosive torpedo on a pole. He navigated past the Confederate pickets and made his way through a boom of trees. Under silenced fire and artillery, he jammed the torpedo under the iron hull and detonated it. The explosion tore a 6-foot hole in the ship, causing it to sink into the river mud. Most of his crew were killed or captured. Only he and one other sailor escaped. They swam through swamps to reach their lines. The Albemarle's crew survived, but without her operating on the river, Union forces managed to recapture Plymouth a few days later. Union forces raised the wreck in 1865, towed her to Norfolk, Virginia, and sold her for scrap in 1867.