Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama

by Stephen Fox

Book Overview

The electrifying story of Raphael Semmes and the CSS Alabama , the Confederate raider that destroyed Union ocean shipping and took more prizes than any other raider in naval history. In July, 1862,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400044294
• ISBN13: 9781400044290
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 317 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding!

This book is an outstanding account of the little known actions of the Confederate Navy during the war between the states. The book is very well written and offers a "Southern Perspective" of Captain Semmes actions during this tragic time. I found the book riveting and highly recommend it to history buffs.

The Infamous Confederate Privateer

~Wolf of the Deep: Raphael Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama~ is a fluid and captivating tale of the Confederate Raider helmed by the Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes. This book, in particular, focuses on his almost two-year stint as captain of the infamous Confederate privateer, the Alabama. In 1860, the Union strategist Winfield Scott devised a shrewd plan to strangle southern commerce with a naval blockade. The Confederates answered by building up their tiny Navy, though they never really could effectively counter the formidable power of New England shipbuilders. The South lacked the shipyards and iron foundries to build great ships, and had to turn to England for naval implements of war. One such ship was the CSS Alabama that set sail from Birkenhead, England in 1862 after being built by John Laird Sons and Company. At the onset of the war, Semmes was first placed in command of CSS Sumter. That tour would last six short months. He raided commercial shipping while eluding pursuing Union warships. In January 1862, the Sumter required a major overhaul. Semmes attempted to have her repaired at Gibraltar, but the arrival of U.S. warships ended her career, and Semmes narrowly escaped to England, where he was promoted to captain. There he acquired a sizable commercial vessel. He then went to the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic and had that vessel converted into a formidable warship that became world-famous as CSS Alabama. The CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, England in 1862. At capacity, it had a crew of some 145 officers and sailors. All told, the Alabama sunk 62 vessels, mostly merchant ships. Its captain was the illustrious Raphael Semmes. Stephen Fox gives a nice background to Semmes' life leading up to the war. Semmes had spent his early years in the U.S. Navy, and was married to an northern woman. A native of Maryland, Semmes practiced law in Alabama. When Alabama seceded in 1861, he served the Confederacy as a blockade runner and had great success raiding Union merchant vessels in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Playing cat-and-mouse games in the vast gulf of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Alabama preyed upon Union commercial shipping. The ship bounced around ports from the Caribbean to England to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. On 11 June 1864, Alabama arrived in Cherbourg, France. There Semmes requested permission to dock and overhaul his ship. Pursuing the raider, the American sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge lied in wait. Eventually the two met, and though the Alabama fired more shots at the Kearsarge, the Union ship plowed a deadly shot at a section of the Alabama's waterline sending the ship hurling to the bottom. The Union ship received the vacating crew of the Alabama. All things considered, this is an intriguing and fascinating account of Raphael Semmes and the notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama. The book is engaging and it h

riveting, fascinating, would be a great film.....

first off...it bugs me to no end that official and customer reviews refer to both Semmes and the CSS Alabama as "privateers." The Alabama was a ship built and comissioned in England by the Confederate States of America, and Semmes, her captain, was a Confederate Naval Officer. What she did, and did quite well, was commercial raiding, which was to destroy the enemy's commerce whenever possible. The Union ships did the same when they found Confederate blockade runners, and one can say they were performing the nautical version of what Sherman and others were doing on land. That said, this is one outstanding book. I'm not partial to historical biographies, and even less to military ones, but I tore through this one in two days. Military, political, and sexual intrigue--a real flair for characterization---Fox has all of the ingredients for an old-fashioned potboiler--and this is all a true account of an overlooked Civil War navy commander of whom little was thought until late in his career. Semmes and the Alabama are both fascinating characters--but the supporting roles of the crew--and those that love them--and those that plot aginst them--and the exotic ports of call the lovely Lady Alabama finds herself in and her many harrowing escapes until her final battle--all make for a book you can't put down. Most historical tomes by Brown history professors aren't devoured like the latest beach novel. For me, this one was, but it was a far more satisfying experience.

cool grey raider

"Wolf of the Deep" is about the most successful commerce raider (read 'privateer') in the history of war at sea. The fact that Raphael Semmes was a captain in the Confederate Navy just adds more to the emotional appeal. It turns out the Confederacy might have won after all, if it had done more commerce raiding. Semmes' raids alone were enough to cause hundreds of shipowners to sell their cargoes at a loss, or even the ships themselves, to avoid losing them as United States vessels. Semmes caused consternation out of all proportion to being one captain with one ship. Stephen Fox tells the story with gusto, including lots of pictures, quotes from newspapers of the time, and different perspectives including pro-confederacy and anti-confederacy Brits as well as Americans. The Civil War is where Americans learned to fight with modern technology and transportation logistics - sadly, using each other; but learn they did. For romance, for military adventure, for political buffoonery, for history: Wolf of the Deep appeals on all levels while telling a right good story. Amazingly, Captain Semmes retired and died in bed after all this brouhaha. You can see a statue dedicated in his honor in Mobile, Alabama.

Fox's WOLF OF THE DEEP is superb in every way.

I just can't stress enough how interesting, well-written and -researched, and entertaining this book is. WOLF OF THE DEEP nicely balances a character-driven narrative, plunging deeply into Semmes's personality, whims, family life, and work, with illuminating historical backdrop. There is much to learn, even for Civil War buffs, I think, about the importance of the naval side of this war and its implications; as well about Anglo-American relations and Semmes's crucial impact upon them. I'd had no idea, for instance, that the Brits. were largely behind the Rebel South, looking upon it as an underdog agst. the big bully of the North -- until Lincoln was bold enough to hinge the War around slavery, as Fox points out. Meanwhile, the book reads like an adventure novel, filled with backstabbers, pirates, love interests, scheming politicians, and the like. If you're looking for an entertaining, insightful, probing history of the Civil War and one of its most important yet forgotten players, do yourself a favor and get Stephen Fox's WOLF OF THE DEEP.