The damage done by the other shells was insignificant.
A far different story was told on the Confederate cruiser.

Winslow's instructions to his gunners were to fire slowly and to make every shot tell, and they did so.

The men on the _Alabama_ stripped to their shirts and drawers and fired rapidly, as if the only thing to do was to work the guns without taking pause to aim.

Crashing planks and timber and exploding shells seemed to be all about them.

A single shot from the _Kearsarge_ killed and wounded eighteen men and disabled a gun.