Did the Confederacy misuse the CSS Alabama

[kepi]

Did the Confederacy misuse the CSS Alabama as a commerce raider or would she have served the Confeferate cause better harassing the blockaid or some other purpose.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

IMO, the CSS Alabama would have had negligible . . . if any. . . effect on the blockade in the big picture.

However, as a commerce raider, she served her purpose well.

 

[AndyHall]

Commerce raiding, or guerre de course, was an established practice in naval warfare, if not especially glamorous or crowned with glory. Alabama was not really well-suited as a warship to engage in a straight up battle with other warships -- she was not armored -- but was supremely effective as a long-distance commerce raider. For the better part of two years, American merchant skippers across the world's oceans lay awake in their bunks, staring at the overhead and wondering if "the pirate Alabama" would be spotted coming up over the horizon at daybreak.

 

[kepi]

Commerce raiding, or guerre de course, was an established practice in naval warfare, if not especially glamorous or crowned with glory. Alabama was not really well-suited as a warship to engage in a straight up battle with other warships -- she was not armored -- but was supremely effective as a long-distance commerce raider. For the better part of two years, American merchant skippers across the world's oceans lay awake in their bunks, staring at the overhead and wondering if "the pirate Alabama" would be spotted coming up over the horizon at daybreak.

USS Kearsarge is a very proud and loved name in the United States Navy

 

[kepi]

 

[AndyHall]

Kearsarge (BB-5) is (I think) the only U.S. battleship that was not named for a state. That's how important perpetuating that name was.

 

[Talos]

Kearsarge (BB-5) is (I think) the only U.S. battleship that was not named for a state. That's how important perpetuating that name was.

It is. It received that name because the original Civil War sloop had just been recently wrecked and there was a large public outcry of support over it. The battleship was turned into a crane ship in 1920 and then in 1941 it was renamed Crane Ship No. 1 to free up the name for the Essex-class carrier.

 

[Mark F. Jenkins]

RE the OP, I would echo the title of the book, "The Most Perfect Cruiser." Alabama was an excellent example of a ship being designed for a particular mission (commerce-destroying) by people who really knew their business. Just about everything about her was optimized for that mission-- she was a great sailer in an age when all long voyages were made under canvas and fuel supplies were uncertain; she was built of wood in an age when shipbuilders were shifting to iron hulls to ease the problem of repairs outside major port facilities; her condensers supplied drinking water to the crew; etc. James D. Bulloch knew what to ask for, and the Lairds delivered in spades.

So... no, not mis-used at all. Marvelously adapted to the mission.

 

[Dilandu]

Did the Confederacy misuse the CSS Alabama as a commerce raider or would she have served the Confeferate cause better harassing the blockaid or some other purpose.

She could repeat the trick maybe once more; then the fast Union cruisers would catch her on third attempt. Or she would be disabled by Union gunboats.

 

[bradford011]

I'm not sure what attacking the blockader's would accomplish. There's too many of them, some will chase after ALABAMA but the others will remain and keep the blockade up. So other than drawing off a few ships nothing else changes, the blockade is not broken.

Now if an ironclad attacks and takes out most or all of the blockading fleet that's an entirely different matter. Where's STONEWALL when you need her?

 

[USS ALASKA]

I can't think of any other mission for CSS Alabama that would cost the Union so much vs. the minimal outlay of the Confederacy. Kinda like asking if there was a better mission for HSK 2 (Atlantis)

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[kepi]

Kearsarge (BB-5) is (I think) the only U.S. battleship that was not named for a state. That's how important perpetuating that name was.

I was thinking about her name last night and wrote a list of much beloved names in the US Navy:
USS Constitution
USS Enterprise
USS Kearsarge
USS Missouri
USS Arizona
USS Nautilus

 

[AndyHall]

She could repeat the trick maybe once more; then the fast Union cruisers would catch her on third attempt. Or she would be disabled by Union gunboats.

Prior to her encounter with Kearsarge off Cherbourg in 1864, Alabama had only one action against a US warship, off the Texas coast on the evening of January 11, 1863 (about 30 miles over that way). It was, if not entirely accidental, one that did not play out as Semmes originally intended. He had been carefully reading newspapers taken from the prizes he had captured so far, and was convinced that a major US invasion fleet was assembling at Galveston. He knew that the island had been taken by the Federals previous October, but had no idea that it had been retaken by Magruder on New Year's Day.

Semmes had a plan to approach the Federal anchorage off Galveston at dusk, and run in among the unarmed transports, broadsides blazing, wreaking havoc and destruction all around before slipping off again in the darkness, all hopefully without a direct fight with a Federal warship. But what he discovered he arrived off Galveston late on the afternoon of the 11th, was that the Federal blockading fleet was back on station offshore, and there was no invasion force. By this time, however, he had been spotted and one of the blockading fleet, USS Hatteras, had been sent to investigate the strange sail. Semmes turned and sailed away slowly, leading Hatteras farther and farther away from the other union ships, until by the time it got dark she was too far away either for signaling purposes or assistance.

For his part, Captain Homer Blake of Hatteras and his officers knew that Alabama was loose in the Caribbean, and almost immediately suspected the identity of the strange vessel that had appeared to the Southeast. But they were unable to confirm their belief until it was much too late. Blake and his crew were doomed, and the fight was over in just 13 minutes. But it was an unusual combination of circumstances that led to the encounter in the first place, and allowed Alabama a quick and relatively easy victory. It's not a situation likely to be repeated again.

 

[kepi]

Is there a way to quantify the economic/military impact the CSS Alabama had on the United States?

 

[AndyHall]

I have seen estimates for the value of the ships and cargoes destroyed, and some evaluation of the effect on trade and insurance rates, but I don't have those at hand at the moment. Others may have that information close by.

 

[Carronade]

Is there a way to quantify the economic/military impact the CSS Alabama had on the United States?

We might ask whether the depredations of Alabama and other Confederate raiders caused any pressure on the United States government to end the war.

I've seen the losses to American privateers and the consequent hike in insurance rates cited among the reasons for Britain to make peace in the Revolution and the War of 1812; was there any such suggestion in the Civil War?

 

[kepi]

We might ask whether the depredations of Alabama and other Confederate raiders caused any pressure on the United States government to end the war.

I've seen the losses to American privateers and the consequent hike in insurance rates cited among the reasons for Britain to make peace in the Revolution and the War of 1812; was there any such suggestion in the Civil War?

Fascinating questions, but I do not know. I do look forward to seeing what others post on this topic.

 

[kevikens]

I was thinking about her name last night and wrote a list of much beloved names in the US Navy:
USS Constitution
USS Enterprise
USS Kearsarge
USS Missouri
USS Arizona
USS Nautilus

Don't forget the Lexington.

 

[Carronade]

Kearsarge (BB-5) is (I think) the only U.S. battleship that was not named for a state. That's how important perpetuating that name was.

Ironically one of the next class of battleships was the USS Alabama, wonder if anyone thought to use that for Kearsarge's sister ship (historically Kentucky). It's been done before:

Sloops Wasp and Frolic in the War of 1812.
Essex and Boxer - schooners in the 1830s, aircraft carriers in WWII, LHDs today (a class which also includes the current Kearsarge).

BIG GOOF ON MY PART - SHOULD BE ENTERPRISE AND BOXER, SCHOONERS 1830s ONLY.

 

[USS ALASKA]

We might ask whether the depredations of Alabama and other Confederate raiders caused any pressure on the United States government to end the war.

I've seen the losses to American privateers and the consequent hike in insurance rates cited among the reasons for Britain to make peace in the Revolution and the War of 1812; was there any such suggestion in the Civil War?

If I remember correctly, Confederate commerce raiders didn't even pull all that many USN ships off the blockade, (at least not enough to change it's effectiveness), which is often a desired effect of such military actions.

Their actions did cause insurance rates to go up but the fix for that was to sell the US flagged vessels to British concerns. More cost but the flow of cargos didn't slow down.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA