"Spitting Devil" sounds like it could be a warship name, doesn't it? Except there is some dispute about the translation where "Spuyten Duyvil" may mean "spouting meadow," specifically after a neighborhood in the Bronx, and a stop on the N.Y. Central Hudson Line.

But let's not let accuracy in translation get in the way of a fine warship name: This is a short tale about an innovative vessel designed to partially submerge itself so as to better avoid enemy fire while carrying out its mission of attacking enemy ships and fortifications. Today we look at USS Spuyten Duyvil, a 210-ton armored torpedo boat built as a semi-submersible, Spuyten Duyvil could take on ballast water until she had little freeboard exposed and ran with decks awash. To quote an 1866 special edition of Engineering:

The length of the vessel over all is 84 ft. 2 in., and her length from the after edge of her stern post to the forward edge of the gate frame is 73 ft. 11 in., whilst her breadth moulded in 19 ft., and her extreme breadth 20 ft. 8 in. The depth of her hold is 9 ft. 11½ in., and her draught when launched with 10 tons of torpedo machinery and 2½ tons of her propelling engines on board was 4 ft. When fully equipped, this draught was increased to 7 ft. 5½ in., and, by pumping water into compartments provided for the purpose, as will be explained presently, this draught can be increased to 9 ft. 1 in. when the vessel is going into action. At this latter draught the water is about level with the gunwale, but, owing to the arched form of the deck, the vessel has still under such circumstances 250 tons of floation left (NB E1: This is questionable given the size of the vessel), or, in other words, an additional load of that amount would be required to sink her.

She was designed to get close to opposing ships and place a "torpedo" (what we today would call a mine) under the hull of the enemy ship, where it could be exploded with great effect. A thorough description of the mechanism for launching the "torpedo" is provided here. It appears the torpedo was launched underwater, presumably making placement under a ship's hull easier.

Stromboli was designed by the Chief Engineer of the United States Navy, William W. W. Wood, who supervised her construction at New Haven, Conn., by Samuel M. Pook. The contract for her construction was dated June 1, 1864. Records of her launching and commissioning have not been found. On November 19, 1864, the boat was renamed Spuyten Duyvil. On 25 November 1864, she successfully fired two torpedoes. Late in November 1864, Capt. Charles Stewart Boggs was placed in charge of Spuyten Duyvil, Picket Boat No. 6 and steam tug John T. Jenkins which had been chartered to tow the former vessels to Hampton Roads, Va. Upon arriving at Baltimore on 2 December, Boggs turned the vessels over to Commodore T. A. Dornin who placed them under First Assistant Engineer John L. Lay for the remainder of the trip to Hampton Roads. The vessels arrived at Norfolk on December 5.

The torpedo boat was ordered up the James River a week later to help assure Union control of that vital waterway during Grant's drive on Richmond. She arrived at Akin's Landing on the 15th, and she operated on the upper James slightly below the Confederate obstructions through most of the remaining months of the campaign. A highlight of her service came on the night of January 23 and 24, 1865 when the Confederacy's James River Squadron launched its downstream assault on the Union squadron at Trent's Reach. During the action, Spuyten Duyvil supported USS Onondaga, the only monitor then on the river.

After Lee evacuated Richmond, Spuyten Duyvil used her torpedoes to help clear the Union-placed obstructions from the river. Her work made it possible for President Lincoln to steam upstream in the Malvern and, after Admiral Porter's flagship ran aground, to be rowed in a launch safely to the former Confederate capital.

This unique ship apparently served as a platform for other experiments and was modified with many experimental improvements. She was struck off the Navy list about 1880.

Today she serves as an interesting footnote to history: perhaps the first ironclad, semi-submersible, steam-powered warship -- and perhaps the first "stealth" ship in the U.S. Navy.