DEADEYE FROM USS HARTFORD

19th C. sailing vessels and steamers with sails typically had both running and standing rigging, and here we’ll discuss an element of the latter known as a “deadeye.” The deadeye shown is a contoured piece of dense lignum vitae wood held in a “U”-shaped bracket of plated wrought iron. The wood is contoured to gently couple the soft fiber line to the hard metal bracket, protecting the line from chafing damage. Lignum vitae likes water and holds up well over long periods exposed to seawater aboard ship. In HARTFORD, multiple deadeyes connected the many parallel parts of standing rigging to iron eyes hard-mounted to the hull near the gunwhale. The many parts of standing rigging were tensioned to support the masts.

For the uninitiated, the twisted, tan fiber stuff is “line,” always sized by circumference, for example: “An eight-inch mooring line.” The term “rope” is reserved for wire rope of similar form but made of steel and sized by diameter. 

In a previous article I mentioned how the late Virginia Beach, VA salvage operator Charles “Captain Jack” Spencer bought HARTFORD, removed remaining collectibles, and towed her down the Elizabeth River, disgracefully under the Confederate flag, to the ship breaker. He sold off or gave away the collectibles. He gave me his last HARTFORD deadeye, which I still have, but I found photos of one in better condition, which sold at auction in 2014. HARTFORD was a steam sloop-of-war commissioned in 1858, which was Admiral David Glasgow Farragut’s flagship during the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. ADM. Farragut may have stepped on this very deadeye as he climbed into the rigging for a better view, and shouted his famous line “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

* The ”USS” prefix meaning “United States Ship” wasn’t officially adopted in the US Navy until 1911, but I use it for clarity to indicate a ship’s name, a common practice today.

More Photos:

In this photo taken aboard HARTFORD, from left, are CAPT Percival Drayton of HARTFORD and ADM David Glasgow Farragut. Five deadeyes appear in the background over the helm, although those may not be identical to those Capt. Jack salvaged. I’m guessing either more than one type of deadeye was in use in HARTFORD, or more likely those shown behind Farragut were replaced with a different style during an overhaul.

While not directly related to deadeyes, here’s an interesting midwatch deck log describing HARTFORD’s engagement with Forts Jackson and St. Philip in Louisiana on 24 April 1862. I found the longhand almost as interesting as the fighting described. I doubt that was penned in real-time, more likely the log as-written by watchstanders was redrafted later by a quartermaster or yeoman selected for his exceptional penmanship.