CSS Alabama that is.
June 19, 1864: CSS Alabama sunk in action off French coast
144 years ago today, the most successful and feared Confederate commerce raider of the war, CSS Alabama, sinks after a spectacular battle with USS Kearsarge just outside Cherbourg.
USS Kearsarge (foreground) pounding away at Alabama with the French beach in the background
The 19th c. "commerce raider" concept somewhat approximates the 20th c. use of submarine warfare to destroy enemy commercial shipping in order to cause economic loss to the enemy country.
Built in an English shipyard and sold to the Confederates in 1861, Alabama was a state-of-the-art ship—220 feet long, with a speed of up to 13 knots. The cruiser was equipped with a machine shop and could carry enough coal to steam for 18 days, but its sails could greatly extend that time.
Under her captain, Raphael Semmes, Alabama prowled the world for three years, capturing U.S. commercial ships. Typically Semmes would spot a US merchantman, overtake her and order that ship to surrender. If the merchantman complied, Semmes sent over a boarding party who confiscated any valuables on board, put the crew in that ships boats, then scuttled the ship. If the merchantman refused to give up or tried to run, Semmes commenced firing and sunk her.
Captain Semmes leaning against one of Alabama's 110 pound Blakely rifled cannon. The Blakely was mounted on a pivot and could be brought to bear on targets on either side of the ship. A 110 Blakely was one of the most powerful naval armaments then in existence. It could fire a 110 pound projectile over a mile and a half with great accuracy.
Alabama sailed around the globe, usually working out of the West Indies, but taking prizes and bungling US shipping in the Caribbean, off Newfoundland, and around the coast of South America.
Alabama underway running down a US ship
In January 1863, Semmes sunk a US warship, USS Hatteras, after luring it out of Galveston, Texas. The US Navy spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to track down the elusive Alabama.
The ship sailed around South America, across the Pacific, and docked in India in 1864. By the summer, Semmes realized that after three years and 75,000 miles his vessel needed overhauling in a modern shipyard.
He sailed around Africa to France, where the French denied him access to a dry dock. Semmes moved out of Cherbourg Harbor and found USS Kearsarge waiting. In a spectacular battle, observed by thousands of French from the beach, Kearsarge bested Alabama and sent the Confederate raider to the bottom. Semmes and some of his crew escaped aboard a British yacht that had observed the spectacle.
The great French impressionist painter Édouard Manet was on the beach at Cherbourg on this day and painted the above.
Kearsarge's bluejackets as they deliver the death blow to the famed and feared Reb commerce raider
During its career, Alabama captured or destroyed 66 ships.
The Alabama wreck was discovered in 1985 at a depth of 58 meters. It is the property of the United States, and a Franco-American crew has been undertaking excavation-work on it since 1988. The work is conducted under the supervision of the "Round-Table Franco-American Scientific Committee of the Alabama"
Alabama's 110 pound Blakely rifles being raised in 1994
A song (really more of a sea shanty) celebrating Alabama's exploits evolved and although your correspondent can't prove it, may have some connection to the University of Alabama's curious cheer of "Roll Tide!"
USS Kearsarge is memorialized by a modern US Navy warship.Roll, Alabama, Roll!
1. In eighteen-hundred and sixty-one,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
This ship's building was begun,
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
2. When the Alabama's keel was laid,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
3. It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird;
Roll, Alabama, roll!
It was laid in the town of Birkenhead.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
4. At first she was called "the Two-Ninety-Two,"*
Roll, Alabama, roll!
For the merchants of the city of Liverpool
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
5. Put up the money to build the ship
Roll, Alabama, roll!
In hopes of driving commerce from the sea.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
6. Down the Mersey ways she rolled then;
Roll, Alabama, roll!
Liverpool fitted her with guns and men.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
7. Down the Mersey she rolled one day,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
And across the Western she plowed her way.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
8. From the Western Isles she sailed forth,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
To destroy the commerce of the North.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
9. To fight the North Semmes did employ
Roll, Alabama, roll!
Ev'ry method to kill and destroy.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
10. The Alabama sailed for two whole years,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
Took sixty-five ships in her career.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
11. With British guns, oh, she was stocked;
Roll, Alabama, roll!
She sailed from Fayal; in Cherbourg she docked.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
12. To Cherbourg port she sailed one day
Roll, Alabama, roll!
To take her count of prize money.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
13. But off Cherbourg the Kearsarge lay tight,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
With Cap'n Winslow spoilin' for a fight.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
14. The Kearsarge with Winslow was waiting there,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
And Semmes challenged them to fight at sea.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
15. Many a sailor lad foresaw his doom,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
When the Kearsarge, it hove in view.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
16. 'Twas a ball from the forward pivot that day,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
Shot the Alabama's steerin' gear away.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
17. 'Twas outside the three-mile limit they fought,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
And Semmes escaped on a fine British yacht.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
18. On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty-four,
Roll, Alabama, roll!
They sent the Alabama to the cold ocean floor.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
19. The Kearsarge won; the Alabama so brave
Roll, Alabama, roll!
Sank to the bottom, to a watery grave.
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
*Alabama was not in fact designated "#292" but rather "#290" while it was under construction.
USS KEARSARGE (LHD-3), Commissioned October 16, 1993
Originally Posted by Harry Beanbag
