144 years ago today, three ships rendezvoused near the Azores, the steamer Bahama, a supply ship the Agrippina and a wooden screw corvette called the Enrica. Aboard Bahama was a man who would become one of the greatest commerce raiders in history and another man who was the uncle of future President Theodore Roosevelt. The Agrippina had disembarked six 32-pounder cannon and two pivot guns, one a 100-pound rifled Blakely and the other a smooth bore 8 inch gun. These guns were now aboard Enrica. Also on board Enrica was another uncle of Theodore Roosevelt and perhaps the most gifted procurer of naval vessels the world had ever seen. The Enrica’s name would change that day and this meeting in the North Atlantic would mark the beginning of the career of the greatest commerce raider in history CSS Alabama.
Photograph of CSS Alabama in Singapore:
The man on board the Enrica that day was James Dunwoody Bulloch a Georgian who had spent 14 years in the US Navy. When the south seceded he left the navy and was given the rank of commander in the new Confederate Navy. He was immediately sent to Europe as a Confederate procuring agent. Bulloch arrived in England in June 1861 to purchase six cruisers from British shipbuilding firms.
Photograph of James Bulloch on the left and his younger brother Irvine. Irvine was the youngest Midshipman on board the CSS Alabama:
Modern Photograph of No. 6 Rumford Place, the building where Bulloch opened his Liverpool offices:
The first vessel Bulloch commissioned was from the Liverpool shipbuilders William C. Miller & Sons. The rumor was spread that she was to be a merchant vessel for an Italian company and was even given an Italian sounding name Oreto. However, that was just a cover. She would became the CSS Florida, which gained some fame itself as a commerce raider.
In August l861, Bulloch commissioned another "merchant" ship, from the Birkenhead company of John Laird Sons & Co. It was initially referred to as “Hull 290” because it was the 290th hull to be constructed in the Laird yard. The yard was on the Mersey River in Birkenhead across from Liverpool. The Laird family had been building ships on the Mersey for many years. John’s father initially founded the Birkenhead Iron Works and the company was already famous internationally when Bulloch came to visit them.
The Laird Shipyard from an 1857 print:
Hull “290” would weigh 1,000 tons, her length would be 210 feet and her beam 32 feet. Bulloch decided that she should be built of the finest English oak, even though the Lairds were famous for their iron ships. Bulloch`s decision to build her from wood, was based on the fact that she could then be repaired in virtually any port in the world, which was not the case with iron vessels. She had pine masts, iron fastenings and a copper bottom to prevent fouling. She was built to British Admiralty specification, at a final cost of £42,500 ($230,000 in 1862). She was a fast ship with twin 300 horsepower engines and under either steam or sail was reported to have been designed for a speed of 12 knots, although her future captain admitted that she was ordinarily a 10 knot ship (He did however, on one occasion, get her over 13 knots).
She had many remarkable technological attributes, among them was her lifting screw. It required only 15 minutes to hoist the screw from the water with a block and tackle rigged on an A-frame set up on the stern. This allowed her to maximize her speed under sail. Another interesting and key technological innovation was a water condenser in the stern of the vessel attached to the engine. It allowed the crew to condense and purify seawater for human consumption. This became indispensable according to her executive officer who would remember, “Since we lived principally upon provisions taken from our prizes, their water-supply was never sufficient. Our condenser enabled us to keep to sea for long periods, as we had to seek a port only for coals.”
Plan for the CSS Alabama, still on file at the Laird Shipyard:
She was launched on May 13, 1862 via Way No. 3 in the Laird yard and given the name Enrica. Her engines were installed and she made her first sea trial voyage on June 15. Meanwhile, the US Consul in Liverpool complained to the authorities that the purpose of the vessel was not peaceful. He employed private investigators to collect information; they questioned Laird’s workers, but he failed to convince the British that the Enrica was anything other than a standard merchant vessel. Due to the snooping and diplomatic harassment, Bulloch appointed a British captain - Mathew J. Butcher, a Cunard Officer, to avoid further complaints. But soon because of a rumor that the USS Tuscarora was heading for the mouth of the Mersey to stop the Enrica "one way or another," Bulloch knew it was time to act.
With everything virtually ready, Bulloch had her coaled. He also chartered the bark Agrippina, and had her loaded on the London docks with coal, guns, ammunition, uniforms and supplies. From there Agrippina headed west. With US diplomats making it hot for him, Bulloch did not want to get held up by the British authorities. On July 28, Bulloch had the ship decked out with flags and bunting and with the Tug Hercules as a tender, steamed down the river. Aboard were local dignitaries, dressed in their finest clothes. Near the mouth of the river, he informed the passengers that Enrica was going to stay out that night and that the party would be taken back to Liverpool by tug. Upon disembarking the passengers, Bulloch set a course for Anglesey.
Two days later, he set a course north, around the coast of Ireland and opened her up as he sped into the Atlantic. When the USS Tuscarora arrived at the mouth of the Mersey, there was no trace of the Enrica. the Tuscarora was too late and Enrica was well on her way to the rendezvous near the Azores Islands to await the arrival of Agrippina and the Bahama that was delivering the future skipper, Captain Raphael Semmes and his cadre of 23 other naval officers.
Photograph of Captain Semmes taken in England just after the sinking of the CSS Alabama:
After leaving the CSS Sumter in Gibraltar, (see the thread from June entitled ““No ship of her size, her frailness and her armament ever played such havoc”) Semmes, his First Lieutenant John Kell and her other officers had taken a passenger ship for England. They spent a couple of months waiting for Hull 290 to be finished. On August 13, 1862, Semmes and his officers arranged passage on the steamer Bahama for the Azores where they joined up with the Enrica and her supply ship Agrippina.
On August 21st 1862, the three ships gathered to the leeward of the Azores, in International waters And the transfer began, in relatively calm waters. There followed 3 days of intense and backbreaking work, as the latest Confederate war vessel was fitted. Finally, on the morning of August 24th she was ready for sea. With the exception of the working crews, all the men from the three vessels transferred to the deck of the Enrica, where all of her officers were in full uniform. Captain Semmes mounted a gun-carriage, and proceeded to read his commission from President Jefferson Davis, authorizing him to take command of the ship.
After reading his commission, Semmes ordered his commission pennant raised to the top of the halyards and the flag of the Confederacy to the peak of the mainmast, the flag and pennant floated on the breeze, as guns from the Enrica and Bahama were fired in salute. With that, the quartermaster hauled down the English colors.
Semmes would recall in his memoirs, “The Bahama also fired a gun and cheered the new flag. Thus, amid this peaceful scene of beauty, with all nature smiling upon the ceremony, was the Alabama christened; the name "290" disappearing with the English flag."
At last, the ship could be called by her "real name." On her wheel and across her stern was emblazoned the French motto, “Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera.” In English, "God helps those who help themselves." However, Semmes had no seamen. He then attempted to muster all the seamen of the Bahama and Agrippina with talk of Southern patriotism. When this did not succeed, he shifted his ground and offered money, double wages, paid in gold, and in addition, prize money that would be paid by the Confederate Congress for ships they would destroy. When the men began to shout "Hear, hear" Semmes knew it was time to close the deal. He obtained 83 seamen for the Confederate Navy that day. He still needed about 20 men for a full crew, but at least he had enough to handle the ship. The rest he would pick up from captured crews of other ships or from ports of call. The 22-month cruise of Alabama had begun on an auspicious note.
Lieutenant Kell would remember the day in a magazine article after the war:
Capt. Semmes leans against the CSS Alabama’s 100-pound Blakely while his second officer, Lt. John M. Kell, stands at the ship’s wheel during a visit to Capetown:
Bulloch and some of the seamen who elected not to join Semmes returned to the Bahama, for the trip back to Liverpool. So began the momentous 22 month cruise of what is now recognized as the greatest commerce raider of all time.
In the first month of her service, the Alabama took 10 vessels at a total value of $437,000. Over the 22 months, the ship cruised the whaling grounds around the Azores, the shipping lanes along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., the Caribbean, the Brazilian coast, along South Africa, the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. They boarded 447 vessels and captured 65 Union merchant vessels and 2,000 prisoners. Until the historic engagement with the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, she did not lose a man to action, accident or disease aboard the ship. She was at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life and never touched North American soil during that time, only coming close near Galveston, Texas, where she sank the USS Hatteras, the only warship she would face until her fatal encounter with USS Kearsarge on June 19, 1864.
Here is CSS Alabama’s rudder today off the coast of Cherbourg, France:
After the war, Bulloch and his brother realized that they could not return to the U.S. They decided to stay in Liverpool, where they went into business and became quite successful. In 1879, they were visited by their sister Martha “Mittie” Roosevelt and her family-- including nephew Theodore. Although Theodore Roosevelt at first seemed to show no interest in his uncles’ exploits, he quickly became interested in their sea stories. Years later it would be Theodore who would persuade uncle "Jimmie" to write and publish the account of his part as an agent of the Confederacy in England called Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, published in 1883. Teddy would write to his mother telling of his success with the project saying, "I have persuaded him [James Bulloch] to publish a work which only he possesses the materials to write." In return, Uncle Jimmie provided help to Teddy when he wrote his history of the US Navy in the War of 1812. Bulloch died in January 1901, eight months before his nephew became president.
On his grave marker in Liverpool’s Toxteth Park Cemetery is the inscription, "American By Birth” on one side and “Englishman By Choice" on the other:
Semmes was briefly held as a prisoner after the war. He was arrested for treason on December 15, 1865, but was released on April 7, 1866. After his release he worked as a professor of philosophy and literature at Louisiana State Seminary (now Louisiana State University), a judge and a newspaper editor. He ultimately returned to his home in Mobile and practiced law. Semmes defended both his actions at sea and the political actions of the Southern States in his 1869 book Memoirs of Service Afloat During The War Between the States.
Semmes is buried in Mobile’s Oaklawn Cemetery:
[This message has been edited by BQ78 (edited 7/29/2009 9:09a).]
Photograph of CSS Alabama in Singapore:
The man on board the Enrica that day was James Dunwoody Bulloch a Georgian who had spent 14 years in the US Navy. When the south seceded he left the navy and was given the rank of commander in the new Confederate Navy. He was immediately sent to Europe as a Confederate procuring agent. Bulloch arrived in England in June 1861 to purchase six cruisers from British shipbuilding firms.
Photograph of James Bulloch on the left and his younger brother Irvine. Irvine was the youngest Midshipman on board the CSS Alabama:
Modern Photograph of No. 6 Rumford Place, the building where Bulloch opened his Liverpool offices:
The first vessel Bulloch commissioned was from the Liverpool shipbuilders William C. Miller & Sons. The rumor was spread that she was to be a merchant vessel for an Italian company and was even given an Italian sounding name Oreto. However, that was just a cover. She would became the CSS Florida, which gained some fame itself as a commerce raider.
In August l861, Bulloch commissioned another "merchant" ship, from the Birkenhead company of John Laird Sons & Co. It was initially referred to as “Hull 290” because it was the 290th hull to be constructed in the Laird yard. The yard was on the Mersey River in Birkenhead across from Liverpool. The Laird family had been building ships on the Mersey for many years. John’s father initially founded the Birkenhead Iron Works and the company was already famous internationally when Bulloch came to visit them.
The Laird Shipyard from an 1857 print:
Hull “290” would weigh 1,000 tons, her length would be 210 feet and her beam 32 feet. Bulloch decided that she should be built of the finest English oak, even though the Lairds were famous for their iron ships. Bulloch`s decision to build her from wood, was based on the fact that she could then be repaired in virtually any port in the world, which was not the case with iron vessels. She had pine masts, iron fastenings and a copper bottom to prevent fouling. She was built to British Admiralty specification, at a final cost of £42,500 ($230,000 in 1862). She was a fast ship with twin 300 horsepower engines and under either steam or sail was reported to have been designed for a speed of 12 knots, although her future captain admitted that she was ordinarily a 10 knot ship (He did however, on one occasion, get her over 13 knots).
She had many remarkable technological attributes, among them was her lifting screw. It required only 15 minutes to hoist the screw from the water with a block and tackle rigged on an A-frame set up on the stern. This allowed her to maximize her speed under sail. Another interesting and key technological innovation was a water condenser in the stern of the vessel attached to the engine. It allowed the crew to condense and purify seawater for human consumption. This became indispensable according to her executive officer who would remember, “Since we lived principally upon provisions taken from our prizes, their water-supply was never sufficient. Our condenser enabled us to keep to sea for long periods, as we had to seek a port only for coals.”
Plan for the CSS Alabama, still on file at the Laird Shipyard:
She was launched on May 13, 1862 via Way No. 3 in the Laird yard and given the name Enrica. Her engines were installed and she made her first sea trial voyage on June 15. Meanwhile, the US Consul in Liverpool complained to the authorities that the purpose of the vessel was not peaceful. He employed private investigators to collect information; they questioned Laird’s workers, but he failed to convince the British that the Enrica was anything other than a standard merchant vessel. Due to the snooping and diplomatic harassment, Bulloch appointed a British captain - Mathew J. Butcher, a Cunard Officer, to avoid further complaints. But soon because of a rumor that the USS Tuscarora was heading for the mouth of the Mersey to stop the Enrica "one way or another," Bulloch knew it was time to act.
With everything virtually ready, Bulloch had her coaled. He also chartered the bark Agrippina, and had her loaded on the London docks with coal, guns, ammunition, uniforms and supplies. From there Agrippina headed west. With US diplomats making it hot for him, Bulloch did not want to get held up by the British authorities. On July 28, Bulloch had the ship decked out with flags and bunting and with the Tug Hercules as a tender, steamed down the river. Aboard were local dignitaries, dressed in their finest clothes. Near the mouth of the river, he informed the passengers that Enrica was going to stay out that night and that the party would be taken back to Liverpool by tug. Upon disembarking the passengers, Bulloch set a course for Anglesey.
Two days later, he set a course north, around the coast of Ireland and opened her up as he sped into the Atlantic. When the USS Tuscarora arrived at the mouth of the Mersey, there was no trace of the Enrica. the Tuscarora was too late and Enrica was well on her way to the rendezvous near the Azores Islands to await the arrival of Agrippina and the Bahama that was delivering the future skipper, Captain Raphael Semmes and his cadre of 23 other naval officers.
Photograph of Captain Semmes taken in England just after the sinking of the CSS Alabama:
After leaving the CSS Sumter in Gibraltar, (see the thread from June entitled ““No ship of her size, her frailness and her armament ever played such havoc”) Semmes, his First Lieutenant John Kell and her other officers had taken a passenger ship for England. They spent a couple of months waiting for Hull 290 to be finished. On August 13, 1862, Semmes and his officers arranged passage on the steamer Bahama for the Azores where they joined up with the Enrica and her supply ship Agrippina.
On August 21st 1862, the three ships gathered to the leeward of the Azores, in International waters And the transfer began, in relatively calm waters. There followed 3 days of intense and backbreaking work, as the latest Confederate war vessel was fitted. Finally, on the morning of August 24th she was ready for sea. With the exception of the working crews, all the men from the three vessels transferred to the deck of the Enrica, where all of her officers were in full uniform. Captain Semmes mounted a gun-carriage, and proceeded to read his commission from President Jefferson Davis, authorizing him to take command of the ship.
After reading his commission, Semmes ordered his commission pennant raised to the top of the halyards and the flag of the Confederacy to the peak of the mainmast, the flag and pennant floated on the breeze, as guns from the Enrica and Bahama were fired in salute. With that, the quartermaster hauled down the English colors.
Semmes would recall in his memoirs, “The Bahama also fired a gun and cheered the new flag. Thus, amid this peaceful scene of beauty, with all nature smiling upon the ceremony, was the Alabama christened; the name "290" disappearing with the English flag."
At last, the ship could be called by her "real name." On her wheel and across her stern was emblazoned the French motto, “Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera.” In English, "God helps those who help themselves." However, Semmes had no seamen. He then attempted to muster all the seamen of the Bahama and Agrippina with talk of Southern patriotism. When this did not succeed, he shifted his ground and offered money, double wages, paid in gold, and in addition, prize money that would be paid by the Confederate Congress for ships they would destroy. When the men began to shout "Hear, hear" Semmes knew it was time to close the deal. He obtained 83 seamen for the Confederate Navy that day. He still needed about 20 men for a full crew, but at least he had enough to handle the ship. The rest he would pick up from captured crews of other ships or from ports of call. The 22-month cruise of Alabama had begun on an auspicious note.
Lieutenant Kell would remember the day in a magazine article after the war:
quote:
On Sunday morning [the 24th], under a cloudless sky, upon the broad Atlantic, a common heritage, we put the Alabama in commission, by authority of the Confederate States Government. Thus empowered, we proceeded to ship such men from the crews of the several ships as were willing to sign the articles. Eighty men signed, and these formed the nucleus of our crew, the full complement being soon made up from the crews of our prizes.
We then commenced our cruise of twenty-two months, during which she more successfully accomplished the work for which she was constructed than had any single ship of any nation in any age.
Capt. Semmes leans against the CSS Alabama’s 100-pound Blakely while his second officer, Lt. John M. Kell, stands at the ship’s wheel during a visit to Capetown:
Bulloch and some of the seamen who elected not to join Semmes returned to the Bahama, for the trip back to Liverpool. So began the momentous 22 month cruise of what is now recognized as the greatest commerce raider of all time.
In the first month of her service, the Alabama took 10 vessels at a total value of $437,000. Over the 22 months, the ship cruised the whaling grounds around the Azores, the shipping lanes along the eastern seaboard of the U.S., the Caribbean, the Brazilian coast, along South Africa, the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. They boarded 447 vessels and captured 65 Union merchant vessels and 2,000 prisoners. Until the historic engagement with the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, she did not lose a man to action, accident or disease aboard the ship. She was at sea for 534 of the 657 days of her life and never touched North American soil during that time, only coming close near Galveston, Texas, where she sank the USS Hatteras, the only warship she would face until her fatal encounter with USS Kearsarge on June 19, 1864.
Here is CSS Alabama’s rudder today off the coast of Cherbourg, France:
After the war, Bulloch and his brother realized that they could not return to the U.S. They decided to stay in Liverpool, where they went into business and became quite successful. In 1879, they were visited by their sister Martha “Mittie” Roosevelt and her family-- including nephew Theodore. Although Theodore Roosevelt at first seemed to show no interest in his uncles’ exploits, he quickly became interested in their sea stories. Years later it would be Theodore who would persuade uncle "Jimmie" to write and publish the account of his part as an agent of the Confederacy in England called Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, published in 1883. Teddy would write to his mother telling of his success with the project saying, "I have persuaded him [James Bulloch] to publish a work which only he possesses the materials to write." In return, Uncle Jimmie provided help to Teddy when he wrote his history of the US Navy in the War of 1812. Bulloch died in January 1901, eight months before his nephew became president.
On his grave marker in Liverpool’s Toxteth Park Cemetery is the inscription, "American By Birth” on one side and “Englishman By Choice" on the other:
Semmes was briefly held as a prisoner after the war. He was arrested for treason on December 15, 1865, but was released on April 7, 1866. After his release he worked as a professor of philosophy and literature at Louisiana State Seminary (now Louisiana State University), a judge and a newspaper editor. He ultimately returned to his home in Mobile and practiced law. Semmes defended both his actions at sea and the political actions of the Southern States in his 1869 book Memoirs of Service Afloat During The War Between the States.
Semmes is buried in Mobile’s Oaklawn Cemetery:
[This message has been edited by BQ78 (edited 7/29/2009 9:09a).]
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