By Bruce Terrell
Marine Archaeologist
NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program
and
LT(jg) Jeremy Weirich
Maritime Archaeological Program Officer
NOAA Office for Ocean Exploration
Project and Historic Synopsis Ship
History
The USS Alligator was an experimental submarine designed and built by French diver and inventor Brutus de Villeroi in 1861 for the US Navy. Fabricated from riveted iron plates and originally powered by a system of oars, Alligator was constructed and tested at Philadelphia on the Delaware River. A diver was intended to lock out of the submarine and attach explosives to enemy targets. Alligator was towed to the James River, Virginia in June 1862 where it was found to be useless against its intended target of a Confederate bridge on the Appomattox River. After transfer to the Washington Navy Yard, the oars were removed and a hand-cranked screw propeller similar to the CSS Hunley’s was added. While being towed to aid in the attack on Charleston Harbor in April 1863, the Alligator sank somewhere off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
Dimensions
Length: 47’
Beam: 4’-6’
Keel to top of hull: 6’
Displacement: 275 tons surface/ 350 tons submerged
Loss of Alligator
The USS Sumpter was a wooden merchant screw steamer built in 1853 and chartered by the US Navy during the Civil War. She was considered to be in poor condition by the time she was commanded to tow the Alligator to Charleston in April 1863. Sumpter left Hampton Roads with Alligator in tow on April 1. Alligator was sealed with no crew on board. She soon encountered rising winds from the SW that grew to gale intensity by the time she reached Cape Hatteras late evening April 1. Sumpter’s last recorded coordinates with Alligator in tow was Lat 34.43, Lon 75.20 at noon April 2.
The Sumpter continued to sail into the SW winds with fore and aft sails set and the bow plunging but took such a heavy pounding that the engines suffered partial failure and the forward hatches flooded. At 6PM, after breaking one of here two tow hawsers, the Alligator was cut free with the intention of the Sumpter returning to it once the storm had abated. By the time the storm had ended by 6PM April 3, Sumpter had been beaten north and was near Cape Henry where she had begun her voyage and was kept from returning to the site of the loss of the Alligator by a subsequent nor’easter that caused further damage.
Two points are significant in any attempt to locate the Alligator. She was in a sealed and floating condition when she was lost. Since her intended use as a submarine required her to be leak-free, she may have drifted for some time before she sank unless she was severely damaged by the storm. Also, the Sumpter’s acting master’s report to the Secretary of the Navy suggests that during the storm, the master was concerned that they were in the Gulf Stream and were attempting to sail west to escape its northerly pull.
Cultural Resource Significance
The USS Alligator’s paramount significance is that it was the U.S. Navy’s first submarine. Although it is not the first submarine, it’s development paralleled the Confederate’s series of experiments with submarines that culminated in the construction of the CSS Hunley which was lost after successfully sinking the USS Housatonic off Charleston, South Carolina on February 17, 1864. Assuming the Alligator were located and assuming its remains were in some recognizable context, it might be considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under several of the below listed criteria (the National Register serves as the Federal Government’s threshold of national significance).
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