- Joined
- Mar 31, 2012
- Location
- Central Ohio
While in command of the cruiser CSS Alabama, Raphael Semmes twice departed from his mission of raiding US commerce to pick a fight with Union military forces. In the first instance, off Galveston, Semmes intended to slip in among the Army transports of General Nathaniel Banks to cause havoc; while the Southern recapture of Galveston a few days prior meant that there were no Army transports there for the Alabama to prey on, she did succeed in drawing off the converted gunboat USS Hatteras and sinking her.
On the second occasion, Semmes famously issued a challenge to the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, which proved to be the Alabama's undoing.
Was Semmes stepping out of line by diverging from his commerce-raiding activities to engage Union military vessels? He gambled and won with his encounter with the Hatteras; also present was the much larger and more heavily-armed Brooklyn, which could have made short work of the Alabama. Was Semmes being a bit quixotic with his ship?
On the second occasion, Semmes famously issued a challenge to the USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg, which proved to be the Alabama's undoing.
Was Semmes stepping out of line by diverging from his commerce-raiding activities to engage Union military vessels? He gambled and won with his encounter with the Hatteras; also present was the much larger and more heavily-armed Brooklyn, which could have made short work of the Alabama. Was Semmes being a bit quixotic with his ship?