CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Constructed in secrecy at the Birkenhead shipyard of John Laird Sons and Company in England, she became the most successful and notorious commerce raider in Confederate service. Under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes, she embarked on a devastating two-year cruise against Union merchant shipping, capturing and burning dozens of vessels across the globe. Her career was ultimately ended in a famous naval duel off Cherbourg, France, by the United States Navy warship USS *Kearsarge*.

History and construction

The vessel was built under contract for the Confederate government by the British firm John Laird Sons and Company, a prominent shipbuilder in Birkenhead, near Liverpool. To circumvent British neutrality laws, she was laid down under the deceptive name *Enrica* and her construction was financed through the covert efforts of Confederate agent James Dunwoody Bulloch. After fitting out and a clandestine transfer of command, she sailed from Merseyside in July 1862, rendezvousing at Praia in the Azores with supply ships. There, she was formally commissioned into the Confederate States Navy, armed with a powerful battery of six Blakely rifled cannons and a 100-pound pivot gun, and placed under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes.

Career and raiding operations

Under Semmes, she began a prolific cruise against Union commerce, primarily targeting the New England whaling fleet and merchantmen in the Atlantic Ocean. Her first capture, the whaler *Ocmulgee*, occurred off the Azores in September 1862. She then crossed the Atlantic, operating with great success off Newfoundland, in the West Indies, and along the coast of South America, disrupting crucial Union trade routes. After a daring raid into the Gulf of Mexico, she sailed around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, preying on shipping lanes near Sumatra and Java. Her final raiding grounds were the South Atlantic Ocean, where she captured the clipper ship *Tycoon* in April 1864. Throughout her voyage, she boarded nearly 450 vessels, burning 65 Union merchant ships and taking over 2,000 prisoners, who were typically paroled.

Battle of Cherbourg and sinking

Needing repairs, Semmes brought the raider into the neutral port of Cherbourg in France in June 1864. The arrival of the Union sloop USS *Kearsarge*, commanded by Captain John Ancrum Winslow, blockaded the harbor. Semmes, confident in his ship's armament, challenged Winslow to a naval duel. On 19 June 1864, she sailed out to engage *Kearsarge* in an historic battle witnessed by spectators from the Cherbourg coast and the British yacht Deerhound. The more accurate gunnery of *Kearsarge*, along with deteriorated powder and faulty shells on the Confederate vessel, proved decisive. Struck below the waterline, she began to sink stern-first approximately seven nautical miles off Cherbourg. Semmes was rescued by the Deerhound and taken to safety in England, while many of his crew were picked up by *Kearsarge* and became prisoners of war.

Legacy and wreck discovery

The wreck of the famed raider lay undiscovered for over a century, becoming a subject of maritime legend. In 1984, the French Navy minesweeper *Circe* located the wreck site off the coast of Cherbourg. The discovery was later confirmed by the renowned French underwater archaeologist Max Guérout. The wreck site, lying in international waters, became the subject of a significant legal and archaeological collaboration between France and the United States. Artifacts recovered from the site, including cannons, personal effects, and ship's fittings, are displayed in museums, notably at the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C., and at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.

Legal and diplomatic aftermath

The vessel's British origins led to major postwar diplomatic disputes. The United States government accused Great Britain of violating its neutrality by allowing the construction and outfitting of Confederate raiders, a series of vessels known as the "Alabama Claims." These claims were adjudicated by an international tribunal in Geneva under the Treaty of Washington. In 1872, the tribunal ruled in favor of the United States, ordering Great Britain to pay $15.5 million in gold for damages caused by the raider and other ships. This landmark arbitration, involving diplomats like Charles Francis Adams Sr., established important precedents in international law for neutral responsibilities and the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Category:American Civil War ships of the Confederate States Navy Category:Ships built in Birkenhead Category:Maritime incidents in 1864