„Albemarle“ – the American ironclad

The keel of the ironclad "Albemarle" was laid in January 1863 in an improvised shipyard on the upper reaches of the Roanoke River, it was included in the composition of the Confederate fleet on April 17, 1864, and on the same day it went down the river, intending to attack the ships of the federal fleet, stationed at the mouth of the river. On April 19, the "Albemarle", passed the barrages, erected by the Federal army, a Northern battery fired upon the vessel, but her armor protected her from damage. The gunboats "Miami" and "Southfield" sailed to meet him. In preparation for the engagement with the ironclad , the gunners' crews lined up the ships parallel to each other and tied them together with ropes and a spare rangout. They hoped to wedge the "Albemarle" between the ships and either board it or shoot it at point blank range. Having noticed the ships, sailing towards them, "Albemarle" captain J. V. Cook decided, that they were about to ram his ship and turned to the side. The gunboats passed, and Cook, taking advantage of this, rammed the "Southfield", which immediately began to sink. There was danger, that the sinking ship would drag the enemy ship to the bottom after her, as the "Albemarle's" ram was jammed firmly in the gunboat's hull, but fortunately for the Southerners, the "Southfield' veered to the side and at the last moment the ram broke free. The "Miami" opened fire on the "Albemarle" from her 229mm Dahlgren cannon, but the shell bounced off the armor and exploded next to the "Miami", killing the Northern ship's captain, Commodore Fesler. The "Miami" crew tried to capture the enemy ship by boarding, but this attempt was also repulsed. The "Miami" retreated into the bay. On May 5, 1864, the "Albemarle", along with the gunboat "Bombshell", covered a troop convoy down the Roanoke River. At the mouth of the river, 4 ships of the Federal fleet were waiting for the Confederates: "Miami", "Mattabesset", "Sassacus" and "Wilussan". The "Albemarle" opened fire first and a few minutes later hit the "Mattabesset" several times before attempting to ram her. The faster ship of the Federal fleet easily outran the slow "Albemarle". As they approached, the Federal ships circled the battleship, showering it with concentrated volleys. The "Albermarle's" stack was punctured several times, the top layer of armor was chipped and punctured in several places, and the rear grappling gun was damaged by shrapnel. But the ship continued to resist. The gunboat Bombshell was less fortunate - she was badly damaged and her crew surrendered. After several more attempts to capture or destroy the ship failed, the "Albemarle" withdrew upriver after nearly three hours of engagement. The presence of a battleship in this region posed a constant threat to the Northern positions in North Carolina, but due to active operations in other areas of the front, the command of the Federal fleet did not have the opportunity to allocate battleships to eliminate this threat. An attempt was made to destroy the "Albemarle" with mines, but the plan again failed: the Confederates discovered the saboteurs and fired on them, but they managed to survive and return to their own. On the night of October 27 and 28, the ship was sunk, using a high-speed mini-boat. The sunken "Albemarle" was captured by the Northerners after the capture of Plymouth. On October 15, 1867, the ironclad was sold for scrap.

A small, simple, well designed and highly detailed model of an interesting ship for modellers of all experience. Even a beginner modeler, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague, will perfectly stick to this model. Where necessary, parts are double-sided printed, some parts are printed with "Metallic" type bronze paint.