The battle took place in the dark of night on October 27^th, 1864. The Albemarle’s protective armor stopped at the waterline of the boat, which was surrounded by a mass of logs to prevent an effective torpedo attack.  The challenge to 21-year-old US Navy Lt. William Cushing was to get close enough, undetected, to attack beneath the water line. How he accomplished this daring feat and the reaction from the crew of the Albemarle as well as the Confederate troops on shore make this exciting story a good choice for a documentary. 

The battle between the Monitor (USS Monitor) and the Merrimac (CSS Virginia) is the one history has noted, mostly because it was the first clash of ironclads and because it signified an end to the wooden warship era.
It ended in a draw.  While lesser known, Cushing’s attack on and destruction of the CSS Albemarle in the Roanoke River at Plymouth, NC has to be one of the most fascinating and gripping accounts of the long, bloody conflict.   

Even the commander of the Confederate ironclad Albemarle described the attack by saying  “a more gallant thing was not done during the war.”  The Chief
of the American Navy, David Farrugut, was quoted as saying “…while no navy had braver or better officers than ours, young Cushing was the hero of the War.”

Television viewers with access to The History Channel were able to relive the excitement and heroism of Confederate and Federal troops and even local
residents during that battle.  

Read more about the building of the CSS Albemarle upriver of Fort Branch, the battle itself, and the preceding events at  http://www.livinghistoryweekend.com/new site/civilwar.htm  and at http://www.fortbranchcivilwarsite.com/history/default.htm

The documentary aired on May 22, 2005 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Find info about the Civil War on the History Channel's Civil War web section.