CSS Shenandoah

[frontrank2]

The CSS Shenandoah in drydock in Australia. She was a Confederate commerce raider often given the credit for firing the last shot of the ACW. This occurred on June 28, 1865 when she fired a warning shot across the bow of a whaling ship in the Berring Straits.

 

[Robert Gray]

A good rendition.

 

[Rhea Cole]

The men on the dock give a good impression of the scale of the ship.

Here is a link to 12 images of the Shenandoah & crew. There is a detailed timeline of the vessels' voyages. It includes the 1866 sale by the U.S. to the Sultan of Zanzibar.

Link

Miscellaneous Photo Index

 

[Trooper "D"]

The CSS Shenandoah in drydock in Australia. She was a Confederate commerce raider often given the credit for firing the last shot of the ACW. This occurred on June 28, 1865 when she fired a warning shot across the bow of a whaling ship in the Berring Straits.

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In case anyone missed my comments elsewhere, the book, "Sea of Gray" by Tom Chaffin is a good read about her voyages. FYI
Cheers!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

In case anyone missed my comments elsewhere, the book, "Sea of Gray" by Tom Chaffin is a good read about her voyages. FYI
Cheers!

That is a good read !

Another good work is
"The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War"
by Lynn Schooler.

 

[gary]

How can a ship of a nation at war use the services of a neutral nation? The three day limit and then internment didn't apply back then?

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

How can a ship of a nation at war use the services of a neutral nation? The three day limit and then internment didn't apply back then?

Great question.

From what is mentioned in many books, the Australian officials were in crisis mode but the locals were mesmerized by a famous warship appearing in their harbor. I doubt they cared if it was Union or Confederate.

According to eyewitness accounts at the time, it seems the citizens of Melbourne were ecstatic when the officers of the
CSS Shenandoah put on their dress uniforms and invited them to come aboard for tours of the ship.
( a great public relations call by the Shenandoah's officers).
Thus they became an 1860's version of "rock stars" down under.

But not all was well ... many of the common sailors tried ... and did "jump ship" in OZ.
However, (at the same time) a few locals tried to "stow away" on the ship and escape from Australia.

I forget the diplomatic and military details, but the CSS Shenandoah left and continued raiding United State's merchant shipping for a few more months.

 

[wausaubob]

Sinking obsolete whaling ships in the Behring Sea was nothing but terrorism. The whale oil industry was already being by passed by petroleum gas.
This kind of raiding was responsible in large part for the bitterness that outlasted the war.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

However, (at the same time) a few locals tried to "stow away" on the ship and escape from Australia.

As many as forty-five locals may have stowed away on the Shenandoah when the ship left Melbourne, according to the memoirs of the vessel's Master's Mate, Cornelius E. Hunt. (See https://archive.org/details/shenandoahorlas00huntgoog/page/n117/mode/1up @ p. 113).

 

[Rhea Cole]

Apart from the window dressing of Confederate officers, the Shenandoah was a British privateer. When she put into Australia the war was effectively over.

The only thing accomplished by the post war cruise was the impoverishment of entire extended families lies in New England.

Nothing that the British crewmen aboard the Shenandoah did in 1864-65 materially advanced the declared objective of the creation of the Confederate government, God given right to hold human beings as property. The Shenandoah crew was aboard to share prize money & nothing else. That is nothing to brag about.

 

[wausaubob]

Apart from the window dressing of Confederate officers, the Shenandoah was a British privateer. When she put into Australia the war was effectively over.

The only thing accomplished by the post war cruise was the impoverishment of entire extended families lies in New England.

Nothing that the British crewmen aboard the Shenandoah did in 1864-65 materially advanced the declared objective of the creation of the Confederate government, God given right to hold human beings as property. The Shenandoah crew was aboard to share prize money & nothing else. That is nothing to brag about.

What prize money could there possibly have been other than the money the whalers needed to shop in the Russian forts in Alaska and possibly to buy furs where they could find them?

 

[rebracer]

Sinking obsolete whaling ships in the Behring Sea was nothing but terrorism. The whale oil industry was already being by passed by petroleum gas.
This kind of raiding was responsible in large part for the bitterness that outlasted the war.

Im sure the whales would take issue with you on that. Ive always been glad about the damage the CS Navy did to the whaling fleet.

 

[wausaubob]

Im sure the whales would take issue with you on that. Ive always been glad about the damage the CS Navy did to the whaling fleet.

Fertile ground for an appropriate joke.

 

[Library Lady]

If you all don't mind an advert, I have Sea of Gray for sale down on Sutlers Row. Given my love of commerce raiders, I should probably have read it first, but I have other sources.

Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah by Tom Chaffin (The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy), copyright 2006 by the author, Hill and Wang, 432 pages, including 16 pages of black and white photos, list of prizes, notes, notes on sources, bibliography, acknowledgements and index. Paperback with solid binding and no creases in spine. Small tear on right side of front cover. Text is clean. Not ex-library. Overall condition: Good. Price: $7.00.

 

[NFB22]

Sea of Gray is a solid book, for those interested about the Shenandoah. Read it back-to-back with To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth about the Kearsarge and the Alabama.

Years ago, while on deployment, somewhere along the lines I came across a copy of Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship. Not as good as Sea of Gray in my opinion, but not a bad read either.

 

[Trooper "D"]

If you all don't mind an advert, I have Sea of Gray for sale down on Sutlers Row. Given my love of commerce raiders, I should probably have read it first, but I have other sources.


View attachment 592230

Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah by Tom Chaffin (The H. L. Hunley: The Secret Hope of the Confederacy), copyright 2006 by the author, Hill and Wang, 432 pages, including 16 pages of black and white photos, list of prizes, notes, notes on sources, bibliography, acknowledgements and index. Paperback with solid binding and no creases in spine. Small tear on right side of front cover. Text is clean. Not ex-library. Overall condition: Good. Price: $7.00.

Nothing wrong with letting folks know what you have available. And so inexpensive too!
Cheers!