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Home » About Norwich » SGS Today »
A watercolor image (circa 1859) of the USS Arizona [courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library].
MMH alumnus brings new theory on USS Arizona to surface
by Benjamin Newell, staff
© Oct. 24, 2008 Norwich University Office of Communications
Ronald Robert Christopher has a new theory about how the USS Arizona was destroyed: sabotage.
The first USS Arizona, that is — a U.S. Civil War gunboat that briefly served on both sides of the Union's blockade of the Confederacy.
Little was known about the Arizona until Christopher, a 2007 graduate of the Master of Arts in Military History (MMH) program, discovered its final resting place in the Mississippi River in June of 2001.
That discovery was the culmination of eight years of research that began in the library of Arizona State University in the summer of 1993, when Christopher came upon a mention of the ship in the library's records of the war. Intrigued that so little was known about the Arizona, he began researching the ship himself.
His continued interest in the ship led to the foundation of the USS Arizona Civil War Gunboat Foundation in 1999, located in his home town of Castle Rock, Co., to promote the ship's history and facilitate the search for it.
In the summer of 2001, Christopher worked with the engineering and surveying firm T. Baker Smith & Son, Inc. to help him locate the ship. After a few years of research, Christopher thought he had a pretty good idea of where the ship was located in the river, but nobody was prepared for what happened on their first trip out on the water.
"It was amazing," Christopher said, "we found the ship in 20 minutes."
Using a proton magnetometer, a device that works like "a really intense metal detector," the crew picked up signals from the iron-hulled Arizona, and confirmed their find with analog and digital sonar.
The discovery of the ship wasn't the end of the story, however. Rather, it instituted Christopher's next phase of research. In examining the sonar images and other forensic evidence from the ship, Christopher noticed disparities with the primary source documentation of the ship's demise.
According to all official records, the Arizona was built in 1858-1859 as a civilian steamship, but was confiscated by the Confederate States of America in early 1862, renamed the Caroline and refitted as a blockade runner to export cotton and import contraband to the South. In October 1862, however, she was captured by the Union Navy, renamed the USS Arizona and again refitted — this time to enforce the blockade.
The Arizona served as a blockader until February 27, 1865 when, according to the engineer's logs, an accidental fire broke out on the ship and caused the boiler to explode. The ship settled into a sandbar but the next day was pulled off by the river's current and sank.
The forensic evidence, however, led Christopher to believe that the amount of damage done to the ship could not have been caused solely from a boiler explosion. Rather, the damage was more likely cause by an explosion of the magazine. It was in researching this possibility that he began to suspect a new possibility for the initial fire: sabotage.
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“The best way to always be prepared is to ask as many questions [as possible] up front.” |
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Christopher's research on this issue put him in touch with Glenn Williams, former Curator and Historian for the USS Constellation Museum in Baltimore, Md., where he gave a presentation on the Arizona. Williams encouraged Christopher to apply to Norwich University's School of Graduate Studies in order to more fully research his theory. He began the MMH program in December 2005.
While in the MMH program, Christopher reexamined the history of the blockade and the city of New Orleans during the war, and found a number of factors that seemed to support his theory, such as: evidence of a new boiler installation while at port in New Orleans; Congressional concerns that the shortage of loyal workers in the Union shipyards of New Orleans had led to the employment of workers with hidden sympathies for the Confederacy; and a Confederate operative named Maj. Minor Meriwether, who claimed credit for being involved in the destruction of 63 Union vessels.
The key, Meriwether noted, was "to always make it look like an accident."
Christopher's theory is that a purposely improper installation of the boiler led to the fire, which spread to the aft storeroom and eventually to the ammunition in the ship's magazine. The resulting explosion was so powerful it broke windows three miles away; and it was this explosion which caused the damage necessary to sink the ship.
The course of Christopher's research neatly illustrates another theory he formulated while completing the MMH program: that the concept of "Friction," as introduced by the military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, can serve as a valuable tool for historical research.
Friction, according to Christopher, is "anything in warfare that is unpredictable, that you're just not ready for." The concept can be easily applied to historical research because historical evidence can often lead in an entirely different direction from where one often expects to go.
"You may go down one road and expect it to go somewhere, and end up finding a better road altogether, especially when you run into a circumstance you're just not ready for."
When applying friction to historical research, Christopher believes it better prepares the historian to always be open to what the evidence is suggesting. "The best way to always be prepared is to ask as many questions [as possible] up front," Christopher said.
In June 2008, Christopher presented a paper on friction at the 5th International Congress of Maritime History in Greenwich, England, using his research on the Arizona to illustrate his theory. Afterwards, a fellow historian recommended he apply to Exeter University to pursue his PhD. He applied and was accepted. He started his doctoral program at Exeter this Fall.
"Ironically," Christopher said, "my doctoral advisor is Dr. Jeremy Black, a man whose work I was introduced to in my program at Norwich University."
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