The Confederate military began the war with virtually no
navy and not much of a seafaring tradition.
They faced an opponent with a well-established Navy and a multitude of
shipbuilders who could rapidly increase the number of vessels available to that
Navy. What the south did have was
Stephen Russell Mallory. Before the war,
the Florida Senator had chaired the United States Senate’s Naval Affairs
Committee. On February 21,1861, Mallory
was named Secretary of the Navy for the Confederate States, a position he would
hold until the end of the war.
Mallory’s prewar experiences gave him a good grasp of what
was needed for the Confederate Navy as well as what was possible. One of the first things he realized was that
an effective blockade of the south would strangle the young nation. In an
attempt to even the score, Mallory looked for ways to disrupt northern
shipping. This was a difficult objective
to achieve given that the Confederate Navy was almost nonexistent. With the regular Navy unable to achieve his
goal, Mallory had to depend on the profit motive. On May 6, 1861, the Confederate Congress
approved Mallory’s plan to grant letters of marque permitting private ship
owners to capture northern ships for profit.
By the end of the year, Congress had authorized 24 Privateers. Most of them were based in Charleston, South Carolina or New Orleans, Louisiana.
On April 25,1862, Admiral Farragut’s Union fleet captured the port of New Orleans and by mid-1862
the Union blockade had been considerably tightened around Charleston. Under these
circumstances most Southern Privateers
quit the business. Never-the-less, Mallory felt that the Privateers had been moderately successful in disrupting Union shipping despite all of the problems they had faced. He reasoned that a disciplined naval force under Naval commanders could be even more successful. He first attempted to purchase cruisers from the British and when that was unsuccessful, he decided to convert merchant vessels.
The first cruiser was the CSS Sumter from the former steamer Habana. Command was given to Raphael Semmes, a former Union Lieutenant with experience from the war with Mexico. In June 1861 Semmes ran the blockade out of New Orleans and while running along the southern coast of Cuba, he captured the Golden Rocket, his first victim, which he burned. During the next three days, he captured seven more ships, all of which were taken to Cienfuegos, Cuba and sold. His little ship could only hold enough coal for eight days of steaming so he went to Curacao to buy coal and supplies. His needs satisfied, he moved to the South Atlantic where he captured and burned eight more ships in six months.
By January 1862,Semmes was in Cadiz, Spain where he was permitted to repair the Sumter's leaking hull, but not her boilers. He left Cadiz for Gibralter and over the next two weeks captured two more vessels, one of which he burned. During their stay at Gibralter, Semmes was attempting to replenish his coal stores when the Union Navy arrived. Hopelessly out-gunned he had no alternative but to abandon his little ship. He paid off the Sumter crew in April of 1862 and made his way back to home.
Though he had lost his ship, the cruise of the Sumter had been a success, capturing eighteen Union merchant ships in the space of six months while demonstrating what the addition of larger and more numerous blockade runners could mean to the Confederacy.
The photograph at left shows Commander Semmes at a later date aboard the cruiser CSS Alabama,a much larger and powerful vessel.
While the Sumter was at sea, the Confederacy converted a second merchant man, the CSS Nashville to run the blockade. In October 1861 she was active in the North Atlantic shipping lanes but unsuccessful in finding any Union vessels until on November 19, 1861 she came upon the Union clipper ship USS Harvey Birch, which she captured and burned. Two days later, she put into port at Southampton, England for supplies and repairs. In February 1862, after some delays, she left England, arriving in St. George, Bermuda for supplies and
repairs. Later that month, while returning to Beaufort, North Carolina, she captured and burned the schooner Robert Gilfillon. She was sold for private blockade running service after only five months of uneventful service as a Confederate cruiser.
A comparison of the cruises of Sumter and Nashville and their relative success clearly shows what a crap-shoot the early days of the Confederate Navy was. Sumter was half the size of Nashville, yet was able to accomplish much more. While luck may have played a part in locating targets, it's hard not to give credit to Commander Semmes for the difference. Both vessels were leaky tubs with inefficient boilers requiring frequent repair. Crews were not as well trained as those on the vessels of the Union fleet mostly because the Confederate crews were thrown together in a last minute effort while most of the Union vessels had crews which had been serving their ships for years.
After the mixed results of their first two cruisers, the number and quality of the Confederate raiders improved considerably. By the summer of 1861, Mallory's agent, James Bulloch, had convinced the British to build two allegedly commercial vessels (the Oreto and the Enrica) later to become the CSS Florida and CSS Alabama, respectively. These were not leaky, makeshift, thrown together vessels, but were well-made and powerful Confederate cruisers. The Florida joined the Confederate Navy on August 17, 1862 and the Alabama a week later.
Shortly after joining the fleet, the entire crew of the Florida, including Lt. Maffitt, the commanding officer, come down with yellow fever and was forced to run the blockade into Mobile, Alabama where a new crew was taken aboard.
During the first six months of 1863 the Alabama while patrolling the North and South America seas, captured twenty-four Union vessels and burning nineteen including the clipper-ship Jacob Bell. In July the Florida put into Brest, France where it was dry-docked through February 1864 for repairs. During the repairs, Lt. Maffitt's health worsened forcing him to relinquish command to Lt. Morris. The Florida returned to sea in February and during patrols of the West Indies and South America during the next seven months, captured thirteen vessels and burned ten.
On October 4, 1864, the CSS Florida anchored in Bahia, Brazil where she was joined by the USS Wachusett, both ships granting their crews liberty ashore. While Morris and most of the crew of the Florida were on shore, a squadron from the Wachusett boarded the Florida in violation of Brazilian neutrality, captured the Florida and towed it to the United States despite the protests of Morris and the Brazilian government, both of which were ignored. Thus ended the career of the Florida during which time she had captured thirty-seven Union vessels.
Outstanding as was the brief record of the Florida, the Alabama, under Semmes, easily out-distanced its sister ship. In the first month Semmes and the Alabama had captured and burned ten Union merchantmen and by the end of 1862, sixteen more. During the next fifteen months during a visit to the Indian Ocean, he captured thirty-nine ships and burned thirty-one. In June 1864, the Alabama put into Cherbourg, France for much needed repairs. Three days later, a Union warship, the USS Kearsage appeared off the port coast. Four days later Semmes announced that he would make a break for it to avoid being bottled up in port. On June 19, 1864 the two ships met outside France's territorial waters in what appeared to be an evenly-matched fight. Unknown to most observers was the poor sea condition of the Alabama from its extended voyage. Add to that the poor gunnery of the Confederate crew and the low quality of the gun-powder purchased during the last voyage and the battle was far from even. To add to Semmes problems, the Kearsage was armored with layers of chains, a fact that Semmes was not aware of and which affected his direction of fire. The Kearsage had no such problems: Their powder was good and their accuracy excellent, and protected by their chain armor, the guns of the Alabama were ineffective. The Alabama was sunk, but Semmes was saved by a British vessel and taken to England. Gone, but not forgotten, the Alabama in her voyage of twenty-two months had captured sixty-four merchant vessels and one warship.
A third cruiser, the Georgia served in the Confederate Navy briefly in 1863 before being sold.
Two blockade runners, the CSS Tallahassee and the Chickamauga were added to the fleet during the summer of 1864. A third vessel, a cruiser the Shenandoah, was added in October. None had any effect on the war's outcome. All three vessels were mildly successful, but the war ended before their real merit could b determined. In fact, the Shenandoah sailed into Arctic waters in search of Union whalers, capturing four on April 1, 1864 and a fifth, the whaler Abigal, which was captured and burned fifteen days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, a fact unknown the cruiser at the time.
The Shenandoah found the American whaling fleet on June 22, 1865, captured five, and over the next six days, captured twenty-four whalers, burning all but four. With the sea ice forming around her hull, the Shenandoah moved south to warmer waters. On August 2nd she encountered the British barc Barracouta where she learned that the war was over. Rather than surrendering to the Union,
she traveled 17,000 miles to Liverpool, England where the British government accepted the surrender of the last body of armed men of the late Confederacy.
Bibliography
Carman, Dennis. Excerpts and editing from the original article. Global Stamp News, May 2000.
All photos from the Internet.
December 2014
LFC
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| CSS Nashville |
After the mixed results of their first two cruisers, the number and quality of the Confederate raiders improved considerably. By the summer of 1861, Mallory's agent, James Bulloch, had convinced the British to build two allegedly commercial vessels (the Oreto and the Enrica) later to become the CSS Florida and CSS Alabama, respectively. These were not leaky, makeshift, thrown together vessels, but were well-made and powerful Confederate cruisers. The Florida joined the Confederate Navy on August 17, 1862 and the Alabama a week later.
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| CSS Florida |
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| CSS Alabama |
During the first six months of 1863 the Alabama while patrolling the North and South America seas, captured twenty-four Union vessels and burning nineteen including the clipper-ship Jacob Bell. In July the Florida put into Brest, France where it was dry-docked through February 1864 for repairs. During the repairs, Lt. Maffitt's health worsened forcing him to relinquish command to Lt. Morris. The Florida returned to sea in February and during patrols of the West Indies and South America during the next seven months, captured thirteen vessels and burned ten.
On October 4, 1864, the CSS Florida anchored in Bahia, Brazil where she was joined by the USS Wachusett, both ships granting their crews liberty ashore. While Morris and most of the crew of the Florida were on shore, a squadron from the Wachusett boarded the Florida in violation of Brazilian neutrality, captured the Florida and towed it to the United States despite the protests of Morris and the Brazilian government, both of which were ignored. Thus ended the career of the Florida during which time she had captured thirty-seven Union vessels.
Outstanding as was the brief record of the Florida, the Alabama, under Semmes, easily out-distanced its sister ship. In the first month Semmes and the Alabama had captured and burned ten Union merchantmen and by the end of 1862, sixteen more. During the next fifteen months during a visit to the Indian Ocean, he captured thirty-nine ships and burned thirty-one. In June 1864, the Alabama put into Cherbourg, France for much needed repairs. Three days later, a Union warship, the USS Kearsage appeared off the port coast. Four days later Semmes announced that he would make a break for it to avoid being bottled up in port. On June 19, 1864 the two ships met outside France's territorial waters in what appeared to be an evenly-matched fight. Unknown to most observers was the poor sea condition of the Alabama from its extended voyage. Add to that the poor gunnery of the Confederate crew and the low quality of the gun-powder purchased during the last voyage and the battle was far from even. To add to Semmes problems, the Kearsage was armored with layers of chains, a fact that Semmes was not aware of and which affected his direction of fire. The Kearsage had no such problems: Their powder was good and their accuracy excellent, and protected by their chain armor, the guns of the Alabama were ineffective. The Alabama was sunk, but Semmes was saved by a British vessel and taken to England. Gone, but not forgotten, the Alabama in her voyage of twenty-two months had captured sixty-four merchant vessels and one warship.
A third cruiser, the Georgia served in the Confederate Navy briefly in 1863 before being sold.
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| CSS Georgia |
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| CSS Shenandoah |
she traveled 17,000 miles to Liverpool, England where the British government accepted the surrender of the last body of armed men of the late Confederacy.
Bibliography
Carman, Dennis. Excerpts and editing from the original article. Global Stamp News, May 2000.
All photos from the Internet.
December 2014
LFC
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