CSS Alabama

Type

Sloop of War

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: CSS Alabama was a Confederate screw sloop-of-war and the most famous and successful commerce raider of the American Civil War, built secretly in England to evade Union diplomatic pressure. She never called at a Southern port during her entire career, operating instead from British and neutral ports worldwide. Specifications: The ship displaced about 1,050 tons with a length of 220 ft, beam of 31 ft 8 in, and draft of 17 ft 8 in. She combined a full three-masted sailing rig with a single screw propeller driven by two 300-hp horizontal steam engines, giving a top speed of roughly 13 knots, and carried a complement of 145. Her armament comprised six 32-pounder broadside guns plus two heavier pivot guns, a 110-pounder Blakely rifle and a 68-pounder. Service History: Launched as the disguised merchantman "Enrica" at John Laird Sons & Company in Birkenhead, she was armed and commissioned at sea off the Azores in August 1862 under Captain Raphael Semmes. Over nearly two years she ranged across the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Indian Ocean, and Southeast Asian waters, capturing and burning dozens of Union merchant vessels and sinking the gunboat USS Hatteras. Her raiding career ended on 19 June 1864 when she was sunk in a ship-to-ship duel with USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, France. Notable Facts: Because she was built under contract in a neutral country and armed only after leaving British waters, Alabama became the centerpiece of the postwar "Alabama Claims" dispute between the United States and Great Britain over British-built Confederate raiders. Her wreck was located off Cherbourg in 1984, and recovered guns, fittings, and other artifacts are now displayed at the Cité de la Mer museum there, providing useful reference detail for modelers seeking accurate deck fittings and armament. A contemporary builder's model of the ship is held by The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia.