Raphael Semmes and the Alabama

By Spencer C. Tucker

May 1862. The C.S.S. Alabama is launched in Liverpool and makes its way to the Azores. There it receives its armaments, is commissioned under the command of Raphael Semmes, and embarks on a 21-month journey of unparalleled destruction of the Union merchant fleet. This campaign is highlighted by the sinking of the Union warship Hatteras off Galveston. Semmes and his Alabama search the seas from Newfoundland to the South Atlantic, from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, for Union merchant vessels. More than sixty ships are sunk or captured before Semmes and his exhausted crew finally meet their match. Trapped by the U.S.S. Kearsarge while anchored in the French harbor of Cherbourg, Semmes comes out to fight. For over an hour the ships bombard each other. Finally, the Kearsarge prevails, sinks the Alabama and takes many of her crew captive. Semmes and many of the rest of the crew are dramatically rescued by the English yacht, Deerhound, and make their way to England. A detailed account by a highly regarded expert in Naval History of the incredible exploits of Raphael Semmes and the Alabama during her 75,000-mile odyssey.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1886661111
• ISBN13: 9781886661110
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: State House Press at the Texas Center-Schrein
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Semmes comments about his mainly British crew as "rascals, liars, thieves and drunkards" yet this cr

11 Jan 1863 in the Gulf of Mexico "The two ships were within hailing distance when Blake (Lieutenant-Comander Homer C. Blake) demanded his opponent's identity. In what Porter (Admiral David Porter) called 'pure perfidy, such as a Zulu warrior would resort to.' Semmes identified his ship as Her Britannic Majesty's steamer Petrel. Reassured, Blake demanded the right to inspect the ship's registry in accordance with international law. After a boat had been lowered and was underway from the Hatteras. Semmes called out. 'This is the Confederate States steamer Alabama. FIRE'. The first broadside from the Alabama was decisive, the Hatteras staggering under its force." Spencer C. Tucker writes a fun book on the history and exploits of the famous Condeferate raider The Alabama. He includes some nice maps, drawings and photos for the reader.Not many books write about the other side of the War, the Naval part. So this book is welcomed. The Union navy was crucial in the War with it's blockades and for the Confederate's it was crucial to try to defeat the blockaders. What would you do as the Captain of the Alabama as the Union Navy searches the high seas for you with every ship it can?

Raphael Semmes and the Alabama

I enjoyed this book. Took me awhile to read but very enjoyable. Civil War on the high seas!