Richmond Ironclads at Trent's Reach
Detail from Library of Congress
photo: LC-B815- 1124
The Wreck of the Gunboat CSS Drewry
As blackness faded to gray, the Virginia II, Richmond, Drewry, and Scorpion remained in the open. At 6:55 a.m., the Drewry’s crew moved to the Richmond. J.W. Grice and T.M. Moody rowed over to rescue the Scorpions (as her crew members would have referred to themselves) and reached the stranded sailors at almost exactly daylight, 7:10 a.m. At that instant a U.S. gun drilled the Drewry, igniting her magazine. She vanished in a thunderclap, covering the Richmond with debris. When the smoke cleared, Grice and Moody were dead, two Scorpions had disappeared and the rest of the crew was wounded and in the water. The vessel later floated away on the tide.
The Wreck of the Gunboat CSS Drewry
As blackness faded to gray, the Virginia II, Richmond, Drewry, and Scorpion remained in the open. At 6:55 a.m., the Drewry’s crew moved to the Richmond. J.W. Grice and T.M. Moody rowed over to rescue the Scorpions (as her crew members would have referred to themselves) and reached the stranded sailors at almost exactly daylight, 7:10 a.m. At that instant a U.S. gun drilled the Drewry, igniting her magazine. She vanished in a thunderclap, covering the Richmond with debris. When the smoke cleared, Grice and Moody were dead, two Scorpions had disappeared and the rest of the crew was wounded and in the water. The vessel later floated away on the tide.