Reportedly, the first use of a periscope by the US Navy occurred April 12, 1864, when a gun fired from the USS Osage, a river Monitor using a periscope, hit Confederate General Thomas Green and took his head off. A marker was placed there within the last two years at the Lock and Dam No. 4 access road at what is called the Battle of Blair's Landing.
The periscope was invented a few days earlier by Lt. Cmdr, Thomas Selfridge who was also the one who fired the gun. He wrote about it in his memoirs.
The reason I'm writing about the Osage was that it was sunk by a mine the day after the USS Milwaukee off Spanish Fort, Alabama.
So, Even Though Selfridge wasn't on the Osage When It Sank, He Had Commanded It Earlier. Bad Luck Officer. --Old B-Runner
