CSS Alabama (1 Viewer)

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comiso90

Senior Master Sergeant
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Dec 19, 2006
FL
More people have to know about her:

Upon the completion of her seven expeditionary raids, Alabama had been at sea for 534 days out of 657, never visiting a single Confederate port. She boarded nearly 450 vessels, captured or burned 65 Union merchant ships, and took more than 2,000 prisoners without a single loss of life from either prisoners or her own crew. During all of Alabama 's raiding ventures, captured ships' crews and passengers were never harmed, only detained until they could be placed aboard a neutral ship or placed ashore in a friendly or neutral port.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Alabama

Confederate Ships--CSS Alabama (1862-1864)

CSS Alabama Association (USA) - Home Page

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Cool stuff! Thanks for posting info on this ship Comiso! Usually the ironclads get all the attention from the Civil War. Reminds us that the were other important ships that deserved to be remembered.
 
Right Messy..

To find a comparable record you have to look at Black Bart the pirate
 
That is a incredible record, and all without losing a life! And without a home port as well.
 
You cant write stuff like this... it needs to be a movie:

The Alabama was in a French port for repairs. A powerful Union ship waited outside the harbor... The CSS Alabama charged out for the showdown....


Having no desire to see his worn-out ship rot away at a French dock while quarantined by Union warships, and given his instinctive aggressiveness and a long-held desire to once again engage his enemy, Captain Semmes chose to fight. After preparing his ship and drilling the crew for the coming battle during the next several days, Semmes issued, through diplomatic channels, a bold challenge to the Kearsarge's commander,[4] "my intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more than until to-morrow or the morrow morning at farthest. I beg she will not depart until I am ready to go out. I have the honor to be Your obedient servant, R. SEMMES, Captain.
"

On 19 June, Alabama sailed out to meet the Union cruiser. As Kearsarge turned to meet her opponent, Alabama opened fire. Kearsarge waited patiently until the range had closed to less than 1,000 yards (900 m). According to survivors, the two ships steamed on opposite courses in seven spiraling circles, moving southwesterly with the three-knot current, each commander trying to cross the bow of his opponent to deliver a heavy raking fire. The battle quickly turned against Alabama due to the superior gunnery displayed by Kearsarge and the deteriorated state of Alabama 's contaminated powder and fuses. Her most important shot, fired from the forward seven-inch (178 mm) Blakely pivot rifle, hit very near Kearsarge 's vulnerable stern post, the impact binding the ship's rudder badly. That rifled shell, however, failed to explode. If it had done so, it would have seriously disabled Kearsarge 's steering, possibly sinking the warship, and ending the contest. In addition, Alabama 's too rapid rate-of-fire resulted in frequent poor gunnery, with many of her shots going too high, thus sealing the fate of the Confederate raider. As a result, Kearsarge benefited little that day from the protection of her outboard chain armor, whose presence Semmes later said was unknown to him at the time of his decision to issue the challenge to fight. In fact, in the years that followed, Semmes steadfastly claimed he would have never fought Kearsarge if he had known she was armor-clad.
 
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You always have the good stuff!

Ha... thanks...

I like the nuggets..

I went to the Alabama's museum in Mobile back in 1987. I dragged a girlfriend there and she dint complain once. That was a good girlfriend!
 
I toured a couple forts years ago on a boy scout trip where we stayed on the Yorktown. We visited Fort Sumter, and another inland fort of which I forget. Hope to go back sometime and visit again.
 
Comis, mighty fine posts about Alabama. Am just reading a book about the Mexican War in 1846-48 and Semmes was a young naval officer in that one and fought at the siege of Vera Cruz.
 
Comis, mighty fine posts about Alabama. Am just reading a book about the Mexican War in 1846-48 and Semmes was a young naval officer in that one and fought at the siege of Vera Cruz.

Thanks renrch.. i know you like that era too.

From the account of the Alabama's final battle, it sounds like they were nearly doomed against an iron clad but if their gunnery was better they could have had a chance.

I wonder if they could have out ran the USS Kearsarge? It was a iron clad afterall.. how fast could it have been???

how far was that from where the Bismark went down?

.
 
The first time the Alabama goes up against a man'o'war. it sinks.

Doesnt sound like it was a really tough ship does it?
 
The first time the Alabama goes up against a man'o'war. it sinks.

Doesn't sound like it was a really tough ship does it?
I guess if you're a myopic sh!t head blind to the operational facts ... you might think that.

that HA
 
Nice stuff! :thumbright:
I read about Alabama before, but its good to reread some facts and learn new details about the subject. She made amazing operational record indeed. One can't help but wonder if this maybe inspired the Germans to deploy commerce raiders in WW1 and WW2.
 
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Comis, I do enjoy reading about the Mexican War and that era of US history. I never fail to be amazed at the events of that war. Recently saw a movie that I thought was pretty well done about the San Patricios in that war. Tom Berenger played the role of the leader of the San Patricios. He seems to be drawn to historical epics. For anyone who wants to learn about almost unbelievable accomplishments by Americans, many of whom played a big role in the War Between the States, I recommend finding a good book about the War in Mexico and the events leading up to it.
 
Nice stuff! :thumbright:
I read about Alabama before, but its good to reread some facts and learn new details about the subject. She made amazing operational record indeed. One can't help but wonder if this maybe inspired the Germans to deploy commerce raiders in WW1 and WW2.

I would like to see a direct link between the two. That would be interesting but me thinks commerce raiding is a proven and ancient tactic with lots of success stories to be inspired by.

I find it interesting that the Confederates were much more innovative concerning warfare on the sea.

The Hunnley and Merrimack were technological breakthroughs.The Alabama may have not been a innovation but her deployment and tactics were the product of forward thinking. Much like the Germans tried to use wonder weapons to offset numerical deficiencies, the South spent energy on innovation to try and close the gap.

(True, the Monitor her turret and low profile could be considered a greater leap in tech but the Merrimack was first!)


renrich:

Living in Cali inspired me to learn about the war with Mexico - In college I knew several people who referred to California, NM and TX as "Occupied Mexico" . :rolleyes:

Since we mentioned another war, I had the pleasure of walking the decks of the USS Olympia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Olympia_(C-6))
I always thought the Spanish/American War was very cool cause of the transitions from wood to steel and sail to steam- cannon balls to shells..
 
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I would like to see a direct link between the two. That would be interesting but me thinks commerce raiding is a proven and ancient tactic with lots of success stories to be inspired by.

Well, basic premise is the same - attack enemy's merchant shipping and avoid confrontation with enemy's warships.
Anyway, I was only making an assumption. Since I'm not an expert for history of naval warfare I don't know how ancient this tactic really is and can't claim anything without adequate knowledge of the subject in question.
 

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