CSS Shenandoah and the Last Shot of the Civil War

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CSS Shenandoah and the Last Shot of the Civil War
How the Rebels saved the whales
By Mike Markowitz - April 9, 2015

CSS-Shenandoah.jpg

Colored lithograph of an artwork by B. Russell, depicting CSS Shenandoah's assault on the U.S. whaling ships in the Bering Sea area. Individual items shown are (from left to right): brig Susan Abigail (burning); ship Euphrates (burning – distant); CSS Shenandoah; ship Jerah Swift (burning – distant); ship William Thompson (burning – distant); ship Sophia Thornton (burning); whaleboat going to warn other whalers (very distant); ship Milo, which carried the destroyed vessels' crews to San Francisco; ice in the distance. U.S. Naval Historical Center Artwork

  • 1
  • Sections: Military History

    Topics: Naval Forces

    Labels: Conflicts & Operations, Surface Ships

    It is a matter of odd historical fact that the last shot of the American Civil War was a blank fired at a New Bedford whaling ship in the Bering Sea off Siberia on June 22, 1865, more than a month after the conflict had actually ended. To understand this bizarre event in this peculiar location, we need to briefly recount the voyage of the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah, an extraordinary epic of seafaring long neglected as a minor footnote to maritime history.
More: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/how-the-rebels-saved-the-whales/
 
CSS Shenandoah and the Last Shot of the Civil War
How the Rebels saved the whales
By Mike Markowitz - April 9, 2015

CSS-Shenandoah.jpg

Colored lithograph of an artwork by B. Russell, depicting CSS Shenandoah's assault on the U.S. whaling ships in the Bering Sea area. Individual items shown are (from left to right): brig Susan Abigail (burning); ship Euphrates (burning – distant); CSS Shenandoah; ship Jerah Swift (burning – distant); ship William Thompson (burning – distant); ship Sophia Thornton (burning); whaleboat going to warn other whalers (very distant); ship Milo, which carried the destroyed vessels' crews to San Francisco; ice in the distance. U.S. Naval Historical Center Artwork

  • 1
  • Sections: Military History

    Topics: Naval Forces

    Labels: Conflicts & Operations, Surface Ships

    It is a matter of odd historical fact that the last shot of the American Civil War was a blank fired at a New Bedford whaling ship in the Bering Sea off Siberia on June 22, 1865, more than a month after the conflict had actually ended. To understand this bizarre event in this peculiar location, we need to briefly recount the voyage of the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah, an extraordinary epic of seafaring long neglected as a minor footnote to maritime history.
More: http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/how-the-rebels-saved-the-whales/
This was fascinating reading for me! Thanks!
 
Folks in the Pacific Northwest became really nervous about the Shenandoah--they fully expected her to sail up the Columbia River with guns blazing at any minute. Of course it didn't happen, but, just in case, two forts were built at the mouth of the Columbia River at the end of the CW. The only time the forts were fired upon was from a Japanese submarine at the beginning of World War II. Both the forts are now state parks (Fort Stevens in Oregon, Cape Disappointment in Washington).

(Source: Scott McArthur, The Enemy Never Came: The Civil War in the Pacific Northwest.Caldwell, ID, Caxton Press, 2012. pp. 157-161)
 
Folks in the Pacific Northwest became really nervous about the Shenandoah--they fully expected her to sail up the Columbia River with guns blazing at any minute. Of course it didn't happen, but, just in case, two forts were built at the mouth of the Columbia River at the end of the CW. The only time the forts were fired upon was from a Japanese submarine at the beginning of World War II. Both the forts are now state parks (Fort Stevens in Oregon, Cape Disappointment in Washington).

(Source: Scott McArthur, The Enemy Never Came: The Civil War in the Pacific Northwest.Caldwell, ID, Caxton Press, 2012. pp. 157-161)
That's very interesting.
I was not aware that the Shenandoah caused concern among locals of the Pacific Northwest.
 
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