So you were speaking of the British military-industrial complex selling weapons and especially ships to other nations, regardless of any allegiances or laws. This sounded fairly egregious. To your knowledge, has the US conducted itself as such? What do you know about the selling of US naval ships and or US Building naval contracts for other nations? Was it as bad as (as prolific) the UK? Part of this may be above your specialty, but thanks for reading anyways! ;)
A little epilogue to the Alabama's career. James Bulloch, the Confederate commander who arranged for Alabama's construction remained in Britain after the Civil War because the Union would not offer him a pardon. His nephew Teddy would visit him on summer holidays and listen to Bulloch's stories of messing up the Union's economy through nautical daring do. Teddy would grow up to be a huge naval history fanboy, which lead to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy just in time to let him start the Spanish American War. A brief charge up San Juan Hill later, Theodore Roosevelt was a national hero and eventual US President. If TR were alive today, he'd be a subscriber to your channel.
@Matthew Chenault Maj.Gen USV (former Lt. General CSA) 'Fighting' Joe Wheeler, during the Spanish-American War: "We've got the damn Yankees on the run again!"
Graf Spee: Can I copy your homework? CSS Alabama: Sure, but change some things so that its not obvious. Edit: Thanks Drach, your approval of my stale memes means a lot.
Even so, it was perfectly planned and coordinated. I don't know how difficult it would have been but as the Confederacy was being blockaded by sea, it must have been quite a challenge.
In South Africa, the Alabama's visit to Cape Town is still remembered in the popular Afrikaans folk song "Daar kom die Alibama"(sic). It is part of the repertoire of any minstrel troupe performing at the Cape Carnival, which takes place (and have for over a hundred years) on January 2nd every year.
Philip Jooste There are two important paintings of the CS Alabama which hang in Cape Town . One was made by artist Thomas Bowler in Cape Town bay ; he was an eyewitness of the two visits of the CS Alabama to Cape Town in 1863 and 1864 ; and a second large oil painting by Maritime Artist Peter Bilas , which hangs in the Table Bay hotel , Cape Town . I also own an oil painting of the CS Alabama ......which is better than Manet’s effort of the sinking of the CS Alabama in 1864 .
Assistant Surgeon Llewellyn was born in Wiltshire, England, and studied medicine at Charing-Cross Hospital in London, graduating in 1859. He accepted employment on the CSS Alabama.
Ah, British Sarcasm at its finest. Also, I cheered when Malacca was mentioned as I am Malaysian and a Malaccan at that. Further edit: I just saw the play on the title name. Very smart
It's strange to realize, the same waters in which the U.S Asiatic Fleet would meet it's end as part of ABDA were prowled almost a century before by their forefathers.
But is it really? "Lawful" means you respect the intent, spirit, of the law, not just the letter. In this case they (British industrialists) intentionally skirted around law in order to "meet market demand". Seems kinda chaotic to me. /nerd
Hell, that's 'nerd cred' where I come from. I was playing 2nd Edition when you got beat up by your mates in the engine room for painting miniatures in a Pattaya Beach coffee shop rather than drinking with your buddies across the street - at 9am. In other words, before it was cool.
I absolutely loved this episode, especially all the snarky comments. I was eating my ham & cheese sandwich when you said " meep meeped out to sea" and I got to laughing so hard I almost spit my sandwich at the screen! Please keep up the GREAT work!
Well lets not forget that America was happy trading with both side during WW1. In fact when America did finally join the war they ended up supplying their own army with rebarreled Lee Enfield rifles rather then stop production to make the Springfield rifles.
There is a good argument to be made that between the CSS Alabama and other Confederate raiders decimating the U.S. whaling fleet may have been responsible for saving several species of whales from extinction.
I don't think so, the slaughter of the whales began with the introduction of steam powered whalers and factory ships. These were mostly from Russia and Norway in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It was said that more whales were killed per year than in a century of "Yankee whaling"
The nascent U.S. petroleum industry should get the credit. Kerosene replaced whale oil as a lighting fuel source in many nations in the 1860s and 1870s. But if you want to posit that Rockefeller and others got a market opening due to a lack of Yankee whalers, I won't disagree.
The C.S.S. Alabama is one of my best favorite ship and her history I do know well.Built a large 3 foot long Revell model of her.Thank you for covering the ship and her history!!!!
The British Empire and mercantile establishments of 1859 were as close to pure capitalist as it was possible to be. 160 years later, what remains of the British Empire has somewhat changed.
@@barleysixseventwo6665 No, only some capitalist countries of 160 years ago endorsed chattel slavery, and the UK wasn't one of them. They outlawed chattel slavery in 1834, and the US outlawed chattel slavery a few years after 1859, in 1865. The only places that have chattel slavery today are non-capitalistic totalitarian theocracies. Nice try though.
@@sarjim4381 Yeah, people always seem to forget that slaves were kept in certain Muslim nations until 1951 and currently, in nations like Mali, which also is predominantly Muslim, slavery is very much still present ...but no, it's the big bad white man that died a 100 years ago we still need to persecute through their descendants
@@Zarastro54 I don't think "pacify" is quite the right term, since it was four years of bloody, brutal warfare before the Confederacy was worn down enough to surrender. It's rather like saying the Allies pacified Germany or Japan in WWII.
sister ship CSS Shenandoah also built at Lairds, performed the last act of the civil war. The mostly Liverpool crew returned home and surrendered to Fort Perch Rock, at the mouth of the river Mersey. A lot of skulduggery took place in Liverpool during the war with both sides having consulate's in the city.
Jon-Paul Filkins I would like to find out CSS Shenandoah would fared against fort point, Alcatraz, angle island, USS Independence, the iron clads USS Napa and USS Camanche, it wouldn't end well
Leading to the 100th anniversary of the ACW, a number of USN ships of the CF Adams class were named for CSN and USN veteran captains. I served on the USS Tattnall, and the USS Semmes was a sister ship. We believed in reconciliation in those years.
The civil war was about slavery.... reconciliation? how about compensation then? The south's cause was BS then and is BS now. argh but this isn't the channel for displays of political bad will.
Gret episode! I had no idea that the Civil War ranged so far away from the States! Her voyages were almost a combined precursor (blimey I'm doing posh words today!) to the voyages of the Emden and the Graf Spee. Also, making rendezvous at sea must have called for some pretty slick arrangements and navigation, a shame that it was in the name of conflict.
If you think that's something, you should check out the career of the CSS Shenandoah; she truly fought worldwide and was literally the final Confederate unit in the world at her surrender in Nov, 1865
@@keithplymale2374 True, sadly. At Civil War reenactments, more than once I have actually been asked by adult Americans: 'who won?' And there is even occasional confusion between the Civil War and the American Revolution. But these same people can instantly tell you who won the last Super Bowl or World Series. Many Europeans know more about the US Civil War than the average American. After all, the US Civil War was the largest war of the Victorian era, and the whole World was watching. Quite a few nations sent observers and newspaper correspondents to follow the armies and report back.
@@stewartmarshall4112 Given the events of the late 1870s onwards in the American South (not to mention all the Confederate monuments that until very recently marked even _Union_ cities), who _truly_ won might be open to some question.
@@vikkimcdonough6153 Good point, Vikki. The several issues the war was fought over are still with us to an embarrassing degree so that it is debatable whether anyone came out winners at all.
Under the command of Captain Raphael Sims CSS Alabama accomplished a wonderful feat of arms - for the British merchant navy. Before the Civil War, American-built clippers and windjammers were Britain's chief rivals for the lucrative tea trade, and American whalers dominated the whale oil industry. However, the predations of raiders like Alabama erased much of America's maritime advantages over the British by driving up the insurance rates on American-flagged hulls. Bellowhead's rousing rendition of the famous shanty: ua-cam.com/video/8fXHSRx3M5o/v-deo.html
I built the USS Kearsarge quite a few years ago, as it was built in New Hampshire, where I live. I read a controversy that the crew of the Alabama were frustrated when shells "bounced" off the Kearsarge. I guess your mention of the powder condition was the answer to it. Some had said that the crew was drunk from celebrating in France. Too bad I do not have that model anymore. I tried to find out when the first "pivot" gun was used, but only found some vague mention of ships built in the 1810-1820 range. Great video. Thanks.
Hey Drach, just wanted to take the time to say thanks for the great work you do and the accuracy and efficiency with which you do it. Theres a reason why you've got years and years of requested content and Q & A. Keep rocking on. Also, I've always wanted to request this, can you do a special on the most modern topic you feel comfortable talking about, I just want to see where the line is for the channel as far as staying away from current events goes.
In 2000 I was stationed on the USS Mt Whitney (LCC-20) which temporarily replaced the USS Kearsage as the command ship for Sixth fleet in the Mediterranean. The Kearsage went into Toulon, France to dry dock. Seems too coincidental. I don't know if Navy staff knows their history too well or what.
The Alabama had quite an impact on Cape Town as its visit(s?) there became part of mid 1800's 'pop culture' and thus we have the folk-song to this day 'Daar kom die Alabama'. I have often wondered why this ship was so celebrated and weather it was only one or several visits. I suspect that due the ship being a raider the crew had losts of money to spend in Cape Town.
I understand you can see some artifacts of the CSS Alabama at museums in Cherbourg, France, Mobile, Alabama and the Museum of the U.S. Navy (Washington Navy Yard). The wreck of the Alabama belongs to the U.S. Navy, but it is the custody and protection of France. This is not unusual from a legal standpoint as a nation's warships are considered to be property of that nation even if they sank elsewhere; plus, there is no Confederacy, anything that belonged to it became the property of the United States, even if it sank off the coast of France. The wreck of Alabama is about 200 feet (60 meters) deep and it can only be dove upon for short periods of time at slack tide. Visibility can range anywhere from 5 to 75 ft and the bottom can be easily stirred up. This is a technically difficult dive, which means further recovery of items may continue; at a very slow pace, for years to come. I also read that the rudder of the Kearsarge; or at least a large part of it, along with the 100-pound shot that became embedded in it, is in the Washington Navy Yard Museum.
One suggestion for another review: The French navy ship the LASEMILLANTE that was shipwrecked, with tragically a great number of casualties and surprisingly some of the survivors were actually named after the ship, one of its decendants is a colleague of mine.
Drach! Nice vid! One of my fav maritime stories, actually wrote a paper on it in college. You did miss one of the most hilarious stories I have heard... When in NE raiding up the coast, Alabama raided a small port I believe in Maine, the objective was to burn all shipping. This was done with a shore raiding party. Once ashore they did burn most of the shipping and near by warehouses however, the parties own boat was seized by armed locals. In the face of being sent to a POW camp, they determined to commandeer the local Coast Guard revenue cutter and make good an escape back to Alabama. Once in the harbor, they were approached by a Union gunboat sent to respond to the mischief. It was only when the senior man aboard ordered the raiding crew to load the single gun that the sailors found that this cutter was not ready for sea and had no shot aboard. What to do? Well there were some 50lb cheeses found in the ships stores.... LOAD IT! LOL So as the gunboat approached, they were given a "taste" of cheese shot! Love the moxie of this! Consequently, as the commander of the Union gunboat was unimpressed with this effort, the raiding crew from the Alabama was seized.
Fun little fact: when they were first designing torpedo boat destroyers ( later called destroyers) the Americans and British looked at old commercial raiders(like the alabama) to get inspiration for a ship that can destroy smaller ships and bully bigger ships and soften them up until bigger back up came.
Since you're looking as some of the smaller combatants, I would love to see a good 5 minute vid on one of the most overlooked, but (IMO) important ships to the Allied victory in the Atlantic; the Flower-class corvettes! Breaking the German submarine blockade with a converted whaling ship design... would love to hear details...
My kind of ship......What a fantastic bit of naval history. You can't make this stuff up. It would make a fantastic series with modern CGI and the like.....Great video as always Drach 10 kudos points to you sir!
In 1983 i wrote a 20 page research paper on the C.S.S. Sumter for my history 200 class If i ever find it again I will e-mail a copy to you. Most of the research i did came out of the official records of the war between the states. thank you for another excellent video.
Great stuff! Hope you'll cover some of the other ships named after my home state, especially since BB-60 is still proudly floating in Mobile Bay! Long live the lucky Mighty A!
The Alabama Arbitration is one of the foundational cases in public international law. By the way, if I remember correctly, the USS Kearsage's victory was scorned because her captain has "unfairly" protected his engines with chain.
It reminds me of a 19th century Iran-Contra scandal minus the direct government funding. Imagine, there was a time when the US was on the other end of the foreign-superpower-shadily-funds-rebellion situation.
Drachinifel , I found your channel by MHV's video on the "early" Africa Korps scenario. Being a bit of a naval nut myself, I absolutely love your channel - great work!!
Ahhh the confederate navy, responsable for the 1st great naval scare in Australia when the CSS Shenandoah arrived without invite off Melbourne, which had what was said to have the largest store of Gold in the world at the time (Thanks to the gold rush)....opps :).Oh, there is a rather entertaining (if rather rambling) book on the Confederate Navy by J thomas Sharf (a Confederate naval officer). I rather enjoyed the chapter on why it wasnt treason to leave the union forces to fight against it.
@El Bearsidente My ignorance that EVERY apologist for the South's treason cited slavery as the cause for which they were willing to destroy the United States? Or my ignorance that the South started the conflict by attacking Ft. Sumter? Or my ignorance that the North practically bent over backwards to avoid the War by compromising with the South over slavery in the decades preceding the South's treason? Please clarify.
@El Bearsidente There are no legal ways to succeed from the United States of America. Anything attempting to leave will be blocked and if neccessary blasted.
Thank you for this. There was a confederate raider that infiltrated new York harbour she was lost along with her adversaries in a duel in the Caribbean can't remember her name but I'm sure you could make a great episode on it
Initially, the South harbored the conceit that "King Cotton" was so vital to Britain's economy that it would actively intervene on the South's behalf, i.e., end the North's blockade. Cotton was indeed important, but Britain could also get cotton from India and could afford to stick to its principles. An excellent and very readable history of this period is "A World on Fire - Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War" by Amanda Foreman.
@Matthew Chenault I used to think that, too, but Foreman's book doesn't present any evidence that the South was ever one victory away from British recognition. Instead, her book says that it was the French who wanted intervention, but the British thought instead they should offer mediation. Lee's defeat at Antietam had the effect of foreclosing any thought of recognition. Popular opinion in Britain, she indicates, was massively pro-Union and against any intervention, and the Liberals, known for their anti-slavery views, were in power. Incongruously, the strongest proponents of recognition of the South in the government were Palmerston, the premier, for economic reasons, and Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, possibly because his father owned thousands of slaves. The Wikipedia entry for Palmerston indicates that a crisis in the Balkans with the Russians forced a choice of priority.
They were called Laird Rams, those turreted ships that the CSA had ordered. I doubt the Union sea & ocean going navy could have done much to them as they didnt posses ocean going ironclad vessels, i don't count New Ironsides in that category.
Great vid on this subject. Again Dracht has my entire attention focused on this vid. I have the Revell large scale plastic model of the Alabama. Really thinking about starting construction after watching this vid.
My 1/700 CSS Florida model kit is progressing nicely. CSS Alabama's 1/700 Master is almost ready to go to mold. The cannon are mostly 3D printed. Masts, booms and yards will be copper phosphate wire. Sails from gelatin-soaked coffee filters. They should be a stunning model kits! The ONLY 1/700 CSS Florida model kit in the whole world! The 1/700 Civil War Confederate Raiders set includes USRC Caleb Cushing as well.
can you pls review the Seeadler?Beeing one of the most sucessfull commerce raiders in WW1 as a sailing ship while staying almost completely nonlethal is a story worth to be told in my opinion.
I normally like hearing about "modern" (WW2) ships a lot more than yee olden ones...but this one was extremely interesting. Keep up the good work! This video was awesome!
Thanks for this fascinating swashbuckling tale. Always had a soft spot for the Alabama since I saw a do about her raising on the History Channel way back in the day. And, of course, obligatory brief nod to her presence at one of my home state's only brief contributions to the naval theater of the Civil War, the Battle of Galveston, Texas, i.e. the smackdown between Alabama and USS Hatteras. On the topic of British-built Confederate warships, might I put forward a request for a look at what was supposed to be the Rebel Navy's last ironclad, the CSS Stonewall, which after passing through a dizzying array of owners, including the British, the French, the Spanish, and even the Union Navy, would end up in the hands of the Japanese as the Kotetsu, in which guise she would reach prominence in the Boshin War, Japan's own civil war, at the Battle of Hakodate in May, 1869. Likewise, you made repeated mention of the Trent Incident throughout this tale. I am vaguely aware of that event, but a supplementary video going into greater detail might not go amiss. Finally, following the legacy of the Alabama, a more tangential request would be for the German commerce raider SMS Seeadler, the world's last fighting sail, or in more romantic terms, "The Last of the Pirate Ships" (despite the classifying of commerce raiders as pirates being a somewhat fuzzy area, but it's all in the marketing).
As to Texas' contributions, remember the Battle of Sabine Pass, where a very small handful of artillery volunteers under an Irishman, Lt. Dick Dowling, turned back an entire Union invasion force by landing an artillery salvo on the lead gunboat, USS Clifton, and blowing her up in mid channel. This saved Texas from Union occupation (some principle arsenals were there) and these were the only medals of valour ever awarded by the Confederate government, those given to Dowling and his men, so dramatic was their victory considered.
The CSS Alabama is not the same ship as the World War II battleship USS Alabama... Granted though, they were both named after the fine state of Alabama...
@@ronclark9724 Yes, I know - and since CSS Alabama went down near France, I'm unlikely to even see the artifacts they managed to bring up - I just wish I'd gotten the chance to go aboard USS Alabama before my knees stopped talking to me and this video made me think of that.
@@phylismaddox4880 I believe along with the USS Kearsarge there was only one or two production runs. Finding a sealed kit is nearly impossible today, but buying one already built is rare too... I wish Revell would produce another run today...
Public support for the Confederate States was actually rather high in the UK. Parliament at the time was controlled by people who loved free trade and hated the Union's Morrill tariff. Writers and public figures generally understood that there was more at stake than slavery and that the states had a right to unilaterally secede, Karl Marx being the notable exception.
War is good for business as long as you are not to close to the front lines :) Anyhow quite the carreer she had and seems like a decent captain at her helm.
reading up on this the Man who brought the CSS Alabama in Liverpool and was behind it seems all the Blockade runners, James Dunwoody Bulloch was the later President Theodore Roosevelt's uncle and it appears his other uncle was serving on Alabama as well. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dunwoody_Bulloch
The battle between the Uss Kearsage and the Css Alabama was an inspiration for a Belgian comic book called "Duel in the Channel" (the 2 main protagonists are actually members of the USS cavalry, but they get booted around frequently to conviently be at every great Civil war event :D ) www.dupuis.com/catalogue/NL/al/1218/duel_in_het_kanaal.html
At 23:45 - as usual, some of your most "provocative" content is near the end - what I'm getting from this is that the Confederate Navy could have synchronized their purchase and provisioning of these ships, and acquired a "mini commerce raiding navy" in some way? Sounds like a fascinating "what if" video!
the legalities remind me of when NASCAR stipulated rules on how much fuel a race car could carry,, a clever crew chief realised this did not restrict the "fuel line" so wrap a 3 inch diameter fuel line twice around the car,,, lol some might remember years ago seeing accidents where cars seemed to spray fuel out,, they did, lol.
The Alabama's ship's bell (alleged) was found in a Hastings, UK shop and purchased for about $12,000 by a US collector in the late 70's. It had been brought up from the wreck by a Guernsey fisherman in 1936. It then resided in a Guernsey pub until the pub was bombed during WW2 (not sure why the pub was on someone's target list). When the bell arrived in the US it was seized by the US government under a law that declares all enemy ships (every last bit of them apparently) sunk by the US Navy are the property (now and forever more) of the United States. No idea if the collector was ever compensated but, as they say, war is hell.
According to accounts (from family records) that lucky 11 inch shot on Alabama by Kearsarge was fired by the gun commanded by a US Marine Corporal, Austin Quinby, a New England cousin of mine who became known as "The Man who Sank the Alabama". From the Boston Globe, 20 June, 1919: "Survivors of the S.S. Kearsarge, which sank the Confederagte ship Alabama, off Cherbourg, France, 55 years ago (19 June, 1864), gathered for their 35th annual reunion at the Quincy House yesterday. Of the less than a dozen living members of the Association, only four put in an appearance. The rest were deterred by old age or the distance from their homes...the surviving shipmates present were John F. Bixford of Gloucester, Austin Quinby of Philadelphia, Penn., Patrick McKeever of Cambridge and William H. Giles of Cambridge." Thought I'd share their names in tribute and for others who might find family names / connections to your post. More at this link including his photo and account: www.ancestoryarchives.com/2014/04/austn-quinby-uss-kearsarge.html
23:58 Or, the British authorities just used the public uproar to buy themselves a nice pair of ships, since their overseas partners were now clearly loosing the war and were of no use in supplying cotton.
How do you think the US Navy would have faired if the Royal Navy squadrons sent to the US East coast during the Trent affair actually commenced their planned blockade?
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Can you do a video for the Bearn and and one covering the naval treaties of the 1920s and 1930s? 🤔
Can we get a video on weapon guidance and directors and their development please.
So you were speaking of the British military-industrial complex selling weapons and especially ships to other nations, regardless of any allegiances or laws. This sounded fairly egregious. To your knowledge, has the US conducted itself as such? What do you know about the selling of US naval ships and or US Building naval contracts for other nations? Was it as bad as (as prolific) the UK? Part of this may be above your specialty, but thanks for reading anyways! ;)
The CSS Alabama had a cheeky motto for a raider, were there any other ships you can think of with particularly funny or sarcastic mottos?
Do a video on the Hunley..the first sub....edit sub with the first semi successful attack not the first sub
A little epilogue to the Alabama's career. James Bulloch, the Confederate commander who arranged for Alabama's construction remained in Britain after the Civil War because the Union would not offer him a pardon. His nephew Teddy would visit him on summer holidays and listen to Bulloch's stories of messing up the Union's economy through nautical daring do. Teddy would grow up to be a huge naval history fanboy, which lead to his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Navy just in time to let him start the Spanish American War. A brief charge up San Juan Hill later, Theodore Roosevelt was a national hero and eventual US President.
If TR were alive today, he'd be a subscriber to your channel.
Roosevelt's Naval History of the War of 1812 is still the definative history.
@Matthew Chenault Maj.Gen USV (former Lt. General CSA) 'Fighting' Joe Wheeler, during the Spanish-American War: "We've got the damn Yankees on the run again!"
I love how history is interconnected like that
@@johnshepherd8687 Very likely that TR's knowledge of sailing ships and naval tactics was the result of conversations with his Bulloch uncles.
@@johnyarbrough502 That and TR was an absolutely voracious reader and dedicated student.
"meep meep". -C.S.S. Alabama.
I am always amazed at the facts I learn on this channel.
(It's still far more accurate than the history channel)
considering the most accurate thing on there lately is probably Ancient ALIENS, that does set a low bar to shoot for
In the immortal words of Trey Parker .... "The History Channel: Where the Truth is History"
@@artbrann and to hit that bar, you'd have to blow your own feet in the process...
@@artbrann The only way to get under that bar is two-dimensional
Graf Spee: Can I copy your homework?
CSS Alabama: Sure, but change some things so that its not obvious.
Edit: Thanks Drach, your approval of my stale memes means a lot.
🤣 witty humor.
Which Spee?
@@bkjeong4302 The incapable admrial
Best Avatar ever.
@@hajoos.8360 I thought about it and technically it could apply to both
“Wow! All these perfect coincidences ;)”
-The Confederate Navy
And the british capitalists
@Jon Doe *Fat bottom girls
Kalinmir Fat Bottom Girls
Even so, it was perfectly planned and coordinated. I don't know how difficult it would have been but as the Confederacy was being blockaded by sea, it must have been quite a challenge.
In South Africa, the Alabama's visit to Cape Town is still remembered in the popular Afrikaans folk song "Daar kom die Alibama"(sic). It is part of the repertoire of any minstrel troupe performing at the Cape Carnival, which takes place (and have for over a hundred years) on January 2nd every year.
Philip Jooste There are two important paintings of the CS Alabama which hang in Cape Town . One was made by artist Thomas Bowler in Cape Town bay ; he was an eyewitness of the two visits of the CS Alabama to Cape Town in 1863 and 1864 ; and a second large oil painting by Maritime Artist Peter Bilas , which hangs in the Table Bay hotel , Cape Town . I also own an oil painting of the CS Alabama ......which is better than Manet’s effort of the sinking of the CS Alabama in 1864 .
@@johncutten982 Thanks, good to know. I believe a flag donated by Captain Semmes is displayed in the South African Museum in Cape Town.
I'm from Alabama and live in Alabama my whole life and Alabama was the capital of the CSA for some time, so love all this history!
A kraken might do something?
"Drachinifel 2019"
#krakenthings
get it**
“What happens at sea stays at sea” 😂😂😂
Sarcastic Drach returns
Did he ever leave?
That's the quote I'd have on a T-shirt
That’s the (real) motto of USN sailors and submariners.
"Nah mate, sounds right dangerous. Plus, I think I left me cat back home..."
Best. Drachinifel. Quote. (so far).
Left me cap* back home
@@TheSchultinator cat is more fun
@@kiiiisu Eh, fair enough
"A rather obvious NOT-A-WARSHIP...." Fantastic!!
Assistant Surgeon Llewellyn was born in Wiltshire, England, and studied medicine at Charing-Cross Hospital in London, graduating in 1859. He accepted employment on the CSS Alabama.
I'm a retired US Navy officer and historian. This is an outstanding video. Well done!
Ah, British Sarcasm at its finest.
Also, I cheered when Malacca was mentioned as I am Malaysian and a Malaccan at that.
Further edit: I just saw the play on the title name. Very smart
British humor is definitely one of my favorites too.
It's strange to realize, the same waters in which the U.S Asiatic Fleet would meet it's end as part of ABDA were prowled almost a century before by their forefathers.
Your geekiness is showing- "Lawful Neutral", "Meep! Meep!" 😋
I still haven't stopped laughing at "Lawful Neutral!"
But is it really? "Lawful" means you respect the intent, spirit, of the law, not just the letter. In this case they (British industrialists) intentionally skirted around law in order to "meet market demand". Seems kinda chaotic to me. /nerd
Hell, that's 'nerd cred' where I come from. I was playing 2nd Edition when you got beat up by your mates in the engine room for painting miniatures in a Pattaya Beach coffee shop rather than drinking with your buddies across the street - at 9am. In other words, before it was cool.
I absolutely loved this episode, especially all the snarky comments. I was eating my ham & cheese sandwich when you said " meep meeped out to sea" and I got to laughing so hard I almost spit my sandwich at the screen! Please keep up the GREAT work!
Ah totally neutral Britain business here,nothing to see here.
Still a far cry from what France did for the USA during their war for independence. And the outcome showed.
Business is business and money talks louder than any treaty as we are all aware!
Perfidy at its' finest.
@@VersusARCH Britain got paid, the outcome worked out fine for them.
Well lets not forget that America was happy trading with both side during WW1. In fact when America did finally join the war they ended up supplying their own army with rebarreled Lee Enfield rifles rather then stop production to make the Springfield rifles.
Drack! I had sent you an actual picture of the unexploded shell still stuck in the Kearsage's rudder!
It's at the USN museum in DC.
There is a good argument to be made that between the CSS Alabama and other Confederate raiders decimating the U.S. whaling fleet may have been responsible for saving several species of whales from extinction.
I don't think so, the slaughter of the whales began with the introduction of steam powered whalers and factory ships. These were mostly from Russia and Norway in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It was said that more whales were killed per year than in a century of "Yankee whaling"
Wow, the slave-owning American aristocracy saved a whale 😑
The nascent U.S. petroleum industry should get the credit. Kerosene replaced whale oil as a lighting fuel source in many nations in the 1860s and 1870s. But if you want to posit that Rockefeller and others got a market opening due to a lack of Yankee whalers, I won't disagree.
The C.S.S. Alabama is one of my best favorite ship and her history I do know well.Built a large 3 foot long Revell model of her.Thank you for covering the ship and her history!!!!
The British Empire and mercantile establishments of 1859 were as close to pure capitalist as it was possible to be. 160 years later, what remains of the British Empire has somewhat changed.
Capitalism in this case very literally endorsing slavery...
@@barleysixseventwo6665 No, only some capitalist countries of 160 years ago endorsed chattel slavery, and the UK wasn't one of them. They outlawed chattel slavery in 1834, and the US outlawed chattel slavery a few years after 1859, in 1865. The only places that have chattel slavery today are non-capitalistic totalitarian theocracies. Nice try though.
@@sarjim4381
Yeah, people always seem to forget that slaves were kept in certain Muslim nations until 1951
and currently, in nations like Mali, which also is predominantly Muslim, slavery is very much still present
...but no, it's the big bad white man that died a 100 years ago we still need to persecute through their descendants
Sar Jim The US could only outlaw slavery after pacifying half of the country who wanted to keep it.
@@Zarastro54 I don't think "pacify" is quite the right term, since it was four years of bloody, brutal warfare before the Confederacy was worn down enough to surrender. It's rather like saying the Allies pacified Germany or Japan in WWII.
sister ship CSS Shenandoah also built at Lairds, performed the last act of the
civil war. The mostly Liverpool crew returned home and surrendered to Fort Perch Rock, at the mouth of the river Mersey. A lot of skulduggery took place in Liverpool during the war with both sides having consulate's in the city.
You make a Southerner proud :) CSS Alabama is something to be proud of in a little known aspect of that horrific war
I think the CSS Shenandoah would be a good one to cover. Due to communications lag, still operating after even Kirby-Smith surrendered!
Jon-Paul Filkins I would like to find out CSS Shenandoah would fared against fort point, Alcatraz, angle island, USS Independence, the iron clads USS Napa and USS Camanche, it wouldn't end well
The CSS Shenandoah has the distinction of being the last commissioned (i.e.: legitimate) Confederate military unit to surrender, in November 1865.
Ah yes.
While the Royal Navy was the closest thing we ever had to Starfleet, the British shipyards were the closest thing we had to the Ferengi.
Leading to the 100th anniversary of the ACW, a number of USN ships of the CF Adams class were named for CSN and USN veteran captains. I served on the USS Tattnall, and the USS Semmes was a sister ship. We believed in reconciliation in those years.
Should reconciliation still be necessary 100 years later? It's not our fault that the south can't get over losing.
Considering the low casualty rate and civil behavior on both sides, the adventures of CSS Alabama seems almost more like sport than war.
The civil war was about slavery.... reconciliation? how about compensation then? The south's cause was BS then and is BS now. argh but this isn't the channel for displays of political bad will.
@@MarcStjames-rq1dm So why did you do it?
@@MarcStjames-rq1dm yeah the union where so anti slavery that’s why they had slaves longer than the confederacy
Gret episode! I had no idea that the Civil War ranged so far away from the States! Her voyages were almost a combined precursor (blimey I'm doing posh words today!) to the voyages of the Emden and the Graf Spee. Also, making rendezvous at sea must have called for some pretty slick arrangements and navigation, a shame that it was in the name of conflict.
If you think that's something, you should check out the career of the CSS Shenandoah; she truly fought worldwide and was literally the final Confederate unit in the world at her surrender in Nov, 1865
Mark no surprise. The average American cannot even put the Civil War in the right century much less the decade.
@@keithplymale2374 True, sadly. At Civil War reenactments, more than once I have actually been asked by adult Americans: 'who won?' And there is even occasional confusion between the Civil War and the American Revolution. But these same people can instantly tell you who won the last Super Bowl or World Series. Many Europeans know more about the US Civil War than the average American. After all, the US Civil War was the largest war of the Victorian era, and the whole World was watching. Quite a few nations sent observers and newspaper correspondents to follow the armies and report back.
@@stewartmarshall4112 Given the events of the late 1870s onwards in the American South (not to mention all the Confederate monuments that until very recently marked even _Union_ cities), who _truly_ won might be open to some question.
@@vikkimcdonough6153 Good point, Vikki. The several issues the war was fought over are still with us to an embarrassing degree so that it is debatable whether anyone came out winners at all.
Under the command of Captain Raphael Sims CSS Alabama accomplished a wonderful feat of arms - for the British merchant navy. Before the Civil War, American-built clippers and windjammers were Britain's chief rivals for the lucrative tea trade, and American whalers dominated the whale oil industry. However, the predations of raiders like Alabama erased much of America's maritime advantages over the British by driving up the insurance rates on American-flagged hulls.
Bellowhead's rousing rendition of the famous shanty: ua-cam.com/video/8fXHSRx3M5o/v-deo.html
War is war, but business is business
I totally agree sir .@simonwaldock9689
I love to listen to your videos to help falling asleep.
Now I'm not saying you're boring, you simply have a calm, relaxed voice. Nice to listen to :)
I built the USS Kearsarge quite a few years ago, as it was built in New Hampshire, where I live. I read a controversy that the crew of the Alabama were frustrated when shells "bounced" off the Kearsarge. I guess your mention of the powder condition was the answer to it. Some had said that the crew was drunk from celebrating in France. Too bad I do not have that model anymore. I tried to find out when the first "pivot" gun was used, but only found some vague mention of ships built in the 1810-1820 range. Great video. Thanks.
23:08 I love the irony of the "more harm than good" comment. Thanks for another superb video!
Hey Drach, just wanted to take the time to say thanks for the great work you do and the accuracy and efficiency with which you do it.
Theres a reason why you've got years and years of requested content and Q & A. Keep rocking on.
Also, I've always wanted to request this, can you do a special on the most modern topic you feel comfortable talking about, I just want to see where the line is for the channel as far as staying away from current events goes.
In 2000 I was stationed on the USS Mt Whitney (LCC-20) which temporarily replaced the USS Kearsage as the command ship for Sixth fleet in the Mediterranean. The Kearsage went into Toulon, France to dry dock. Seems too coincidental. I don't know if Navy staff knows their history too well or what.
The Alabama had quite an impact on Cape Town as its visit(s?) there became part of mid 1800's 'pop culture' and thus we have the folk-song to this day 'Daar kom die Alabama'.
I have often wondered why this ship was so celebrated and weather it was only one or several visits. I suspect that due the ship being a raider the crew had losts of money to spend in Cape Town.
I understand you can see some artifacts of the CSS Alabama at museums in Cherbourg, France, Mobile, Alabama and the Museum of the U.S. Navy (Washington Navy Yard). The wreck of the Alabama belongs to the U.S. Navy, but it is the custody and protection of France. This is not unusual from a legal standpoint as a nation's warships are considered to be property of that nation even if they sank elsewhere; plus, there is no Confederacy, anything that belonged to it became the property of the United States, even if it sank off the coast of France.
The wreck of Alabama is about 200 feet (60 meters) deep and it can only be dove upon for short periods of time at slack tide. Visibility can range anywhere from 5 to 75 ft and the bottom can be easily stirred up. This is a technically difficult dive, which means further recovery of items may continue; at a very slow pace, for years to come.
I also read that the rudder of the Kearsarge; or at least a large part of it, along with the 100-pound shot that became embedded in it, is in the Washington Navy Yard Museum.
Glad to see you shining some light on US civil war naval history.
One suggestion for another review: The French navy ship the LASEMILLANTE that was shipwrecked, with tragically a great number of casualties and surprisingly some of the survivors were actually named after the ship, one of its decendants is a colleague of mine.
Drach! Nice vid! One of my fav maritime stories, actually wrote a paper on it in college. You did miss one of the most hilarious stories I have heard... When in NE raiding up the coast, Alabama raided a small port I believe in Maine, the objective was to burn all shipping. This was done with a shore raiding party. Once ashore they did burn most of the shipping and near by warehouses however, the parties own boat was seized by armed locals. In the face of being sent to a POW camp, they determined to commandeer the local Coast Guard revenue cutter and make good an escape back to Alabama. Once in the harbor, they were approached by a Union gunboat sent to respond to the mischief. It was only when the senior man aboard ordered the raiding crew to load the single gun that the sailors found that this cutter was not ready for sea and had no shot aboard. What to do? Well there were some 50lb cheeses found in the ships stores.... LOAD IT! LOL So as the gunboat approached, they were given a "taste" of cheese shot! Love the moxie of this! Consequently, as the commander of the Union gunboat was unimpressed with this effort, the raiding crew from the Alabama was seized.
Fun little fact: when they were first designing torpedo boat destroyers ( later called destroyers) the Americans and British looked at old commercial raiders(like the alabama) to get inspiration for a ship that can destroy smaller ships and bully bigger ships and soften them up until bigger back up came.
"I was a business man, doing business"
Great Britain (probably)
One of your best yet my friend, from an old Hippie that loves Naval History
Since you're looking as some of the smaller combatants, I would love to see a good 5 minute vid on one of the most overlooked, but (IMO) important ships to the Allied victory in the Atlantic; the Flower-class corvettes! Breaking the German submarine blockade with a converted whaling ship design... would love to hear details...
He has already done a video on the lovely Flower Class corvette
@@manamans6532 Oh! I just joined his channel, so I had missed that one in my perusing.. thanks!
My kind of ship......What a fantastic bit of naval history. You can't make this stuff up. It would make a fantastic series with modern CGI and the like.....Great video as always Drach 10 kudos points to you sir!
Frankly, I would rather see a film of the SMS Emden... Her glory is still the pride of the German navy...
In 1983 i wrote a 20 page research paper on the C.S.S. Sumter for my history 200 class If i ever find it again I will e-mail a copy to you. Most of the research i did came out of the official records of the war between the states. thank you for another excellent video.
Great stuff! Hope you'll cover some of the other ships named after my home state, especially since BB-60 is still proudly floating in Mobile Bay! Long live the lucky Mighty A!
"It's not personal, it's strictly business."
The Alabama Arbitration is one of the foundational cases in public international law. By the way, if I remember correctly, the USS Kearsage's victory was scorned because her captain has "unfairly" protected his engines with chain.
Yea and the Alabama had a habit of approaching with British colors
It reminds me of a 19th century Iran-Contra scandal minus the direct government funding. Imagine, there was a time when the US was on the other end of the foreign-superpower-shadily-funds-rebellion situation.
The Kearsarge's sternpost, with the dud shell still embedded in it, was removed after the battle and is now on display at the Washington Navy Yard.
Legal loopholes: providing jobs for lawyers since the first law was written...
99.9% of lawyers give the rest a bad reputation.
The Babylonians had legal contracts
@@purplespeckledappleeater8738 and I bet everyone was looking for holes in them...
@@raygiordano1045 :D
As if the British didn't play both sides of every war. Of course they did... Divide and rule... As the old saying goes, money talks, bullshit walks...
Drachinifel
,
I found your channel by MHV's video on the "early" Africa Korps scenario. Being a bit of a naval nut myself, I absolutely love your channel - great work!!
Another excellent video.
Thanks
Hey USS Kersarge the modern one was with us on the 26th MEU in 2013. Although I was on the USS San Antonio. (Marines not Navy)
USS Kearsarge (CV-33) was also an Essex-class carrier during WW2 and an early battleship (BB-5)!
Ahhh the confederate navy, responsable for the 1st great naval scare in Australia when the CSS Shenandoah arrived without invite off Melbourne, which had what was said to have the largest store of Gold in the world at the time (Thanks to the gold rush)....opps :).Oh, there is a rather entertaining (if rather rambling) book on the Confederate Navy by J thomas Sharf (a Confederate naval officer). I rather enjoyed the chapter on why it wasnt treason to leave the union forces to fight against it.
Believe it or not, some of the descendants of the treason scum are still fighting the War.
If your interested in the CSS Shenandoah their a book called "Australian Confederates" by Terry Smyth
@@matthewrobinson4323
No they are not, but the democrats still are the party of racism and oppression.
@El Bearsidente My ignorance that EVERY apologist for the South's treason cited slavery as the cause for which they were willing to destroy the United States? Or my ignorance that the South started the conflict by attacking Ft. Sumter? Or my ignorance that the North practically bent over backwards to avoid the War by compromising with the South over slavery in the decades preceding the South's treason? Please clarify.
@El Bearsidente There are no legal ways to succeed from the United States of America. Anything attempting to leave will be blocked and if neccessary blasted.
I think you've reached new heights of tongue-in-cheekiness and wit with the first few minutes.
Thank you for this. There was a confederate raider that infiltrated new York harbour she was lost along with her adversaries in a duel in the Caribbean can't remember her name but I'm sure you could make a great episode on it
A most excellent video Drach. Thank you.
I have a wreckpiece of the css alabama washed ashore on the beach of cherbourg france
Initially, the South harbored the conceit that "King Cotton" was so vital to Britain's economy that it would actively intervene on the South's behalf, i.e., end the North's blockade. Cotton was indeed important, but Britain could also get cotton from India and could afford to stick to its principles. An excellent and very readable history of this period is "A World on Fire - Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War" by Amanda Foreman.
@Matthew Chenault
I used to think that, too, but Foreman's book doesn't present any evidence that the South was ever one victory away from British recognition. Instead, her book says that it was the French who wanted intervention, but the British thought instead they should offer mediation. Lee's defeat at Antietam had the effect of foreclosing any thought of recognition. Popular opinion in Britain, she indicates, was massively pro-Union and against any intervention, and the Liberals, known for their anti-slavery views, were in power. Incongruously, the strongest proponents of recognition of the South in the government were Palmerston, the premier, for economic reasons, and Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, possibly because his father owned thousands of slaves. The Wikipedia entry for Palmerston indicates that a crisis in the Balkans with the Russians forced a choice of priority.
They were called Laird Rams, those turreted ships that the CSA had ordered. I doubt the Union sea & ocean going navy could have done much to them as they didnt posses ocean going ironclad vessels, i don't count New Ironsides in that category.
Thank you for demonstrating a good, solid, understanding of how alignment works. Eshkalar* salutes you.
*The world's greatest Canadian Wizard
I find myself repeatedly watching . Repetition drills it into my head. Important history. Thanks again Drach.
Alabamian here, thanks for the video.
Great vid on this subject. Again Dracht has my entire attention focused on this vid. I have the Revell large scale plastic model of the Alabama. Really thinking about starting construction after watching this vid.
My 1/700 CSS Florida model kit is progressing nicely. CSS Alabama's 1/700 Master is almost ready to go to mold. The cannon are mostly 3D printed. Masts, booms and yards will be copper phosphate wire. Sails from gelatin-soaked coffee filters. They should be a stunning model kits! The ONLY 1/700 CSS Florida model kit in the whole world! The 1/700 Civil War Confederate Raiders set includes USRC Caleb Cushing as well.
can you pls review the Seeadler?Beeing one of the most sucessfull commerce raiders in WW1 as a sailing ship while staying almost completely nonlethal is a story worth to be told in my opinion.
I normally like hearing about "modern" (WW2) ships a lot more than yee olden ones...but this one was extremely interesting.
Keep up the good work! This video was awesome!
What a fantastic video Drac! Informative, funny and highly entertaining. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for this fascinating swashbuckling tale. Always had a soft spot for the Alabama since I saw a do about her raising on the History Channel way back in the day. And, of course, obligatory brief nod to her presence at one of my home state's only brief contributions to the naval theater of the Civil War, the Battle of Galveston, Texas, i.e. the smackdown between Alabama and USS Hatteras.
On the topic of British-built Confederate warships, might I put forward a request for a look at what was supposed to be the Rebel Navy's last ironclad, the CSS Stonewall, which after passing through a dizzying array of owners, including the British, the French, the Spanish, and even the Union Navy, would end up in the hands of the Japanese as the Kotetsu, in which guise she would reach prominence in the Boshin War, Japan's own civil war, at the Battle of Hakodate in May, 1869.
Likewise, you made repeated mention of the Trent Incident throughout this tale. I am vaguely aware of that event, but a supplementary video going into greater detail might not go amiss.
Finally, following the legacy of the Alabama, a more tangential request would be for the German commerce raider SMS Seeadler, the world's last fighting sail, or in more romantic terms, "The Last of the Pirate Ships" (despite the classifying of commerce raiders as pirates being a somewhat fuzzy area, but it's all in the marketing).
As to Texas' contributions, remember the Battle of Sabine Pass, where a very small handful of artillery volunteers under an Irishman, Lt. Dick Dowling, turned back an entire Union invasion force by landing an artillery salvo on the lead gunboat, USS Clifton, and blowing her up in mid channel. This saved Texas from Union occupation (some principle arsenals were there) and these were the only medals of valour ever awarded by the Confederate government, those given to Dowling and his men, so dramatic was their victory considered.
Immortalised in the song “Roll Alabama, Roll” of which Bellowhead did a rousing version
ua-cam.com/video/3E3V2XJZqL8/v-deo.html
Another fine video, thanks.
What a great video.
Made your break for Tank feast, did you some good.
😎😉
YEA!!!! My home state! I've seen the battleship USS Alabama but unfortunately only from the shore.
The CSS Alabama is not the same ship as the World War II battleship USS Alabama... Granted though, they were both named after the fine state of Alabama...
@@ronclark9724 Yes, I know - and since CSS Alabama went down near France, I'm unlikely to even see the artifacts they managed to bring up - I just wish I'd gotten the chance to go aboard USS Alabama before my knees stopped talking to me and this video made me think of that.
@@phylismaddox4880 Lucky are the few who can purchase and build a Revell model kit of CSS Alabama...
@@ronclark9724 I'll keep that in mind! :)
@@phylismaddox4880 I believe along with the USS Kearsarge there was only one or two production runs. Finding a sealed kit is nearly impossible today, but buying one already built is rare too... I wish Revell would produce another run today...
Good gravy Marie that was a heck of an effective ship! What’s the record for prizes taken by a single ship?
Public support for the Confederate States was actually rather high in the UK. Parliament at the time was controlled by people who loved free trade and hated the Union's Morrill tariff. Writers and public figures generally understood that there was more at stake than slavery and that the states had a right to unilaterally secede, Karl Marx being the notable exception.
War is good for business as long as you are not to close to the front lines :)
Anyhow quite the carreer she had and seems like a decent captain at her helm.
reading up on this the Man who brought the CSS Alabama in Liverpool and was behind it seems all the Blockade runners, James Dunwoody Bulloch was the later President Theodore Roosevelt's uncle and it appears his other uncle was serving on Alabama as well.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dunwoody_Bulloch
Excellent, informed and entertaining commentary.
Good morning Drach! 🌄
There's a memorial to the Alabama's surgeon David Llewellyn in the parish church at Easton Royal in Wiltshire. His father was the vicar of the parish.
This is interesting information on confederate raiders. I did not know of the British fallout over building raiders.
Britain: "We abolished slavery first!" Also Britain: builds commerce raiders for slavers.
One was done by the state, one was done by a private shipyard.
The battle between the Uss Kearsage and the Css Alabama was an inspiration for a Belgian comic book called "Duel in the Channel" (the 2 main protagonists are actually members of the USS cavalry, but they get booted around frequently to conviently be at every great Civil war event :D )
www.dupuis.com/catalogue/NL/al/1218/duel_in_het_kanaal.html
This video is absolutely dripping with sarcasm! Drach in top form here!
At 23:45 - as usual, some of your most "provocative" content is near the end - what I'm getting from this is that the Confederate Navy could have synchronized their purchase and provisioning of these ships, and acquired a "mini commerce raiding navy" in some way? Sounds like a fascinating "what if" video!
It would be hard enough to get three ships delivered simultaneusly now, let alone in the days of communication by letters on boats.
There's even a song about the CSS Alabama. Look it up, it's called Roll, Alabama, Roll.
Thanks for the neutral and highly factual video on a chapter of America's War Between the States.
The most successful commerce raider . Period .
There's a few Germans who may disagree 😂
Suggest you also take a look at the ship
Sphynx / Stærkoddder / CSS Stonewall / Kōtetsu that was build in Bordeaux.
A very brave effort at Tuscarora. More of a "tusk-ah-roar-ah" sound than the spelling would suggest.
Roll Tide. Towards the very end of the war of Northern Aggression, Admiral Semmes was made a General & commanded land forces
Great paintings
the legalities remind me of when NASCAR stipulated rules on how much fuel a race car could carry,,
a clever crew chief realised this did not restrict the "fuel line" so wrap a 3 inch diameter fuel line twice around the car,,, lol
some might remember years ago seeing accidents where cars seemed to spray fuel out,, they did, lol.
The Alabama's ship's bell (alleged) was found in a Hastings, UK shop and purchased for about $12,000 by a US collector in the late 70's. It had been brought up from the wreck by a Guernsey fisherman in 1936. It then resided in a Guernsey pub until the pub was bombed during WW2 (not sure why the pub was on someone's target list). When the bell arrived in the US it was seized by the US government under a law that declares all enemy ships (every last bit of them apparently) sunk by the US Navy are the property (now and forever more) of the United States. No idea if the collector was ever compensated but, as they say, war is hell.
According to accounts (from family records) that lucky 11 inch shot on Alabama by Kearsarge was fired by the gun commanded by a US Marine Corporal, Austin Quinby, a New England cousin of mine who became known as "The Man who Sank the Alabama". From the Boston Globe, 20 June, 1919: "Survivors of the S.S. Kearsarge, which sank the Confederagte ship Alabama, off Cherbourg, France, 55 years ago (19 June, 1864), gathered for their 35th annual reunion at the Quincy House yesterday. Of the less than a dozen living members of the Association, only four put in an appearance. The rest were deterred by old age or the distance from their homes...the surviving shipmates present were John F. Bixford of Gloucester, Austin Quinby of Philadelphia, Penn., Patrick McKeever of Cambridge and William H. Giles of Cambridge." Thought I'd share their names in tribute and for others who might find family names / connections to your post. More at this link including his photo and account: www.ancestoryarchives.com/2014/04/austn-quinby-uss-kearsarge.html
One thing I had never given much thought to before was that the Amercian civil war ranged over a much wider area than just the continental US.
If I remember rightly I think this ship visited Australia during the war
To rake the deck ..is a load of bbs launched down the long axis of the ship...buck shot raking a stay would likely cut the ropes...
23:58 Or, the British authorities just used the public uproar to buy themselves a nice pair of ships, since their overseas partners were now clearly loosing the war and were of no use in supplying cotton.
Thanks so much for doing the ship I requested 😃
How do you think the US Navy would have faired if the Royal Navy squadrons sent to the US East coast during the Trent affair actually commenced their planned blockade?
Poorly for 6 months and still would have won. The only difference would be Montreal is that annoying french speaking American city.
@@ravenwing199 😂