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The Destruction of the U.S.S. "Housatonic" During The Civil War AMONG THE U.S. Naval officers whose conduct during the Civil War brought a renewed tradition to the service was Commander Joseph W. Congdon, of Nantucket. The son of a whaling master, Commander Congdon established himself as a superior officer in the Civil War, and after that conflict was given command of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Salmon P. Chase. He was also appointed as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy before it was established at its present headquarters at New London, Conn. Commander Congdon s two daughters lived at the little house on School Street — Miss May H. Congdon and Miss Josephine Congdon — now the residence of Miss Helen Powell, a great-grand-niece of the Commander. One of the most memorable of the events during the Civil War was the sinking of the sloop-of-war Housatonic by a Confederate torpedo outside Charleston harbor. The Southern forces had designed a sub marine with a torpedo and the successful attack made naval history. At this time Captain Congdon was the Sailing Master of the new 1200-ton screw steamer, and his account of the disaster, which took place on February 17, 1864, is also a part of our U. S. naval history. Commander Congdon's story follows:
"The destruction of the Housatonic took the time when all the big vessels were away. Our anchorage was generally in on the west side of the harbor near an inlet called Beach Inlet. We had learned from time to time of the several attempts that had been made to blow us up with a torpedo as they had a particular spite against our vessel for foiling their attempt to raise the blockade and considered us dangerous to have around there, interfering with their plans. As our information concerning their plans relative to us was very reliable, we naturally expected to go skyward sooner or later. With that in view, we concluded that if it were a possible thing, we would take our valuables with us on our journey. "So before turning in at night, each one of us officers would attach a line to our valuables and lead the line up through the hatch on deck, making it fast handy so that when
