Confederate Torpedo Boat David Obelisk

The Confederate Torpedo Boat David marker, or James Hamilton Tomb, Jr. obelisk, is located in Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and was created as a reminder of the men who commanded the CSS David on its first mission. Under the supervision of David C. Ebaugh, the David was privately built at Stoney Landing along the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina in 1863 for the Southern Torpedo Company. Upon completion, it was 46 feet and six inches long, measuring five feet in diameter with a cigar-shaped hull. It was powered by a small, double-cylinder engine that turned two propellers at a speed of about seven knots. The ship had a large, open hatchway that contained the steam machinery, as well as a small area suitable for four crewmen.

Intended for battle, the David was able to carry a 60-70-pound explosive charge. Because self-propelled torpedoes were not used in naval warfare until around 1880, it instead had a spar torpedo, which was attached on a 14-foot pole with four pressure-sensitive fuses that would explode when driven into enemy warships. The ship was also designed to be easily hidden in the water. Although it was a surface vessel, only about a foot of it was visible above the water, and it operated using anthracite coal, which burned without smoke. Under control of the Confederate States Navy, the David was put into use on October 5, 1863 against the Federal ironclad USS New Ironsides, which was engaged in a blockade of Charleston.

Aboard the David were Lieutenant William T. Glassell as the ship’s commander, James Hamilton Tomb as the engineer, J. Sullivan as the fireman, and W. Cannon, (who Tomb refers to as “Canners” in his book Engineer in Gray: Memoirs of Chief Engineer James H. Tomb, CSN), as the pilot. The night of the attack, however, was failed, except for one Union soldier killed via shotgun by Glassell around the same time the ship fired its torpedo. Not only did the torpedo explode too closely to the water’s surface, but the resulting splash from the explosion swamped the David’s powerplant. As the water put out the fires and filled the boat, Glassell ordered the men to fight for themselves, and they all jumped overboard. Glassell was picked up by a transport schooner, Sullivan taken by the Ironsides, and because Cannon could not swim, he stayed close to the David. Tomb swam away, but seeing the David was still afloat, went back. He adjusted the machinery and started the fires, assisting Cannon aboard before traveling up the harbor and through the Ironsides to prevent Union ships from firing at them with heavy weaponry. Afterward, Tomb was put in command of the David.

After repairs, the David was used in following attacks, such as those against the Federal gunboat Memphis in March of 1864 and the frigate Wabash on April 18, 1864. Due to the ship’s usefulness, around 20 others were made in its likeness in Charleston from 1864-1865, referred to as “Davids.” In February of 1865, however, some “David” crafts were captured by Union forces, as well as a larger steamship based off the form of the David’s hull. It is unknown what happened to the original David, but it is possible it was among those captured. James Hamilton Tomb, originally the chief engineer and then the commander of the David, was buried beside the Confederate Torpedo Boat David obelisk, which was erected in 1905, on May 25, 1929. The inscription on the marker commemorates Tomb and the other men who were on the ship’s original mission. It reads:

Tomb

In Memory of my

shipmates of the

Confederate

Torpedo Boat David

Charleston S.C. Oct 5, 1863

Lieut. W.T. Glassell, C.S.N.

Pilot W.J. Cannon, C.S.N.

Fireman Jas. Sullivan, C.S.N.

Chief Engineer

James Hamilton Tomb, C.S.N.

1. Rease, William H.. The Rebel Torpedo Boat David, Smithsonian. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.si.edu/es/object/nmah_325520.
2. Holcombe, Jr., Robert. David, South Carolina Encyclopedia. September 14th 2016. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/david/.
3. Early Torpedo Boats, Destroyer History Foundation. Accessed October 9th 2020. http://destroyerhistory.org/early/torpedoboats/.
4. CSS David, Navy Source. Accessed October 9th 2020. http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86512.htm.
5. Taylor, Jr., George Lansing. Confederate Torpedo Boat David memorial obelisk 1 Jacksonville, FL, University of North Florida. October 15th 2011. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/5955/.
6. Stroud, Mike. Confederate Torpedo Boat David, Historical Marker Database. August 1st 2017. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=57587.
7. Tomb, James Hamilton. Engineer in Gray: Memoirs of Chief Engineer James H. Tomb, CSN, p. 170-171. Google Books. Accessed October 9th 2020. https://books.google.com/books?id=kO7DjV-wmd0C&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=James+Hamilton+Tomb,+C.S.N.&source=bl&ots=IyWOqQOJwS&sig=49owlYn77HBCKYMkW_Qwx-4tnWU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GDkFUKbJJIGs9AT2zODWBw&ved=0CFUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=James%20Hamilton%20Tomb%2C%20C.S.N.&f=false.