Monday, June 19, 2006
This Day in American History
On this day in 1864 out side Cherbourg, France, the CSS Alabama, a 1,000 ton steam sloop was sunk by the USS Kearsarge. Except for a inflicting the worst day the U.S. Navy had until Pearl Harbor off Hampton Rhodes by the ironclad we call the Merrimac, the confederate navy was no match for the other side and resorted to raiders who sailed around the world capturing or destroying union merchant vessels. The Alabama in its two years had destroyed or captured 68 such vessels. Forced out of port by the French, the Alabama put an explosive shell into the steering post of the Kearsarge early on but it did not explode. It was about the only good shot the Alabama got in and within an hour it was a slowly sinking wreck.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 7:48 AM 
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I think the raiders, Alabama, Shenendoah and the rest were like the war equivalent of a temper tantrum. The U.S. commerce was never in true danger only the poor unfortunates on the ships that by chance met the raiders on the sea.
I think you underestimate the effect of commerce raiders in the ACW.
From Answers.com's Civil War article:
"On the other hand, Confederate cruisers, built or bought in England (see Alabama claims) and captained by men such as Raphael Semmes, destroyed or chased from the seas much of the U.S. merchant marine."
From the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers, in an article by Peter Hunt (http://www.hksw.org/american%20civil%20war_naval%20part%20II.htm):
"It is fair to say that the Confederate raiders practically destroyed the United States' merchant marine. Although there were never more than a handful of raiders operating at one time and although the number of ships sunk, a few hundred, was not a great proportion of the total number of American merchant ships, the very presence of the raiders drove up the insurance rates for Union shipping so high that it was not economically viable to ship cargos in Union hulls. Union merchantmen were sold to neutrals at knock down prices and sunken ships were not replaced. When the war ended the westward expansion of the railroads offered better investment opportunities than shipping so the merchant marine was not rebuilt, it was not until World War One that America regained its position in world shipping."
(BTW, the U of Alabama's fight song, "Roll, Alabama, Roll", is an ode to the CSS Alabama, hence my first comment.)
From Answers.com's Civil War article:
"On the other hand, Confederate cruisers, built or bought in England (see Alabama claims) and captained by men such as Raphael Semmes, destroyed or chased from the seas much of the U.S. merchant marine."
From the Hong Kong Society of Wargamers, in an article by Peter Hunt (http://www.hksw.org/american%20civil%20war_naval%20part%20II.htm):
"It is fair to say that the Confederate raiders practically destroyed the United States' merchant marine. Although there were never more than a handful of raiders operating at one time and although the number of ships sunk, a few hundred, was not a great proportion of the total number of American merchant ships, the very presence of the raiders drove up the insurance rates for Union shipping so high that it was not economically viable to ship cargos in Union hulls. Union merchantmen were sold to neutrals at knock down prices and sunken ships were not replaced. When the war ended the westward expansion of the railroads offered better investment opportunities than shipping so the merchant marine was not rebuilt, it was not until World War One that America regained its position in world shipping."
(BTW, the U of Alabama's fight song, "Roll, Alabama, Roll", is an ode to the CSS Alabama, hence my first comment.)
Actually, the University of Alabama fight song is "Roll, TIDE, Roll". We Auburn fans used edit the song a bit, singing "Roll, Tide, Roll; 'Round the bowl and down the hole, roll, Tide, roll!"
I'm a native Alabamian and gradute of Auburn University.
I'm a native Alabamian and gradute of Auburn University.
# posted by 
: 12:11 PM
: 12:11 PM
Marya:
Thank you for correcting a long-held error on my part. (Fortunately, I still have "Maryland, My Maryland" to complain about.)
Thank you for correcting a long-held error on my part. (Fortunately, I still have "Maryland, My Maryland" to complain about.)
Doug,
As you know, "Maryland, my Tannenbaum." Is the state sport of MD still jousting?
Although, as an inveterant Yankee, I to not tend not to praise any southern practices or institutions, one of my favorite visual rebuses is to watch an Alabama football game when invarialy, someone in the crowd will extend a pole on which there is a box of Tide detergent sandwiched between 2 rolls of toilet paper.
I always thought the Crimson Tide had something to do w/ the red tide, but when I visited the UA website today, that turned out to be not true.
More on the elephant later.
T
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As you know, "Maryland, my Tannenbaum." Is the state sport of MD still jousting?
Although, as an inveterant Yankee, I to not tend not to praise any southern practices or institutions, one of my favorite visual rebuses is to watch an Alabama football game when invarialy, someone in the crowd will extend a pole on which there is a box of Tide detergent sandwiched between 2 rolls of toilet paper.
I always thought the Crimson Tide had something to do w/ the red tide, but when I visited the UA website today, that turned out to be not true.
More on the elephant later.
T
# posted by : 10:08 PM
: 10:08 PM << Home
