could not be freed, the Union sailors set her on fire and riddled her hull with solid shot fired at her waterline. After learning of Sassacus's performance on blockade duty, her squadron commander, Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee, reported to United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, "The Sassacus had done well... I congratulate you on the success of this class [of ship]... they'll beat the Clyders. Albemarle Sound In March, Sassacus returned to Hampton Roads for repairs and then proceeded to the Washington Navy Yard to add two 12 pounder Dahlgren rifles to her battery. She departed Washington, D.C. on 15 April, and left Hampton Roads a week later for duty in the North Carolina sounds where, on 19 April, the ironclad ram CSS Albemarle had spearheaded a joint Confederate sea/land offensive, sinking Union double-ender , and helping to wrest Plymouth, North Carolina from Union hands. On 26 April, Sassacus crossed the bar into North Carolina's inland waters and was assigned to Albemarle Sound, where other United States Navy ships awaited the reappearance of the dreaded Southern ram. Albemarle, accompanied by troop-carrying steamers CSS Cotton Plant and CSS Bombshell, reemerged from Roanoke Run on the afternoon of 5 May bent on attacking New Bern, North Carolina. The Union ships in the vicinity slowly fell back while the Union transport Trumpeter raced away to carry word of the Southern ram's advance to Captain Melancton Smith, the senior Union Naval officer in the sounds. Smith in , followed by Sassacus, and , immediately got underway and dashed toward Confederate Captain James W. Cooke's little task force. Soon after Albemarle opened fire, Sassacus, Mattabesett and Wyalusing concentrated their fire on Bombshell and forced the little steamer to surrender. Meanwhile, Cotton Plant withdrew up the Roanoke River. Then Commander Roe "ordered full steam and open throttle" and headed Sassacus straight for the ram. Sassacus struck Albemarles starboard broadside. The double-ender was damaged by the collision and by a shot from the ram which hit her starboard boiler. Escaping steam killed one fireman outright and scalded others who died in the next few days. Albemarle suffered only superficial damage. For about ten minutes, the ships were locked together and engulfed in steam, while Sassacus attempted to penetrate deeper into her adversary, and Albemarle struggled to pull free. Bluejackets on the double-ender threw grenades at the ironclad's deck hatch despite musketry from the ram.