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rhe Frontbiographies compiled by the CSS Alabama Association. The Kearsarge had only one fatality.Powered by steam and sail, Frorthe Alabama was built in n- Liverpool, England, as the NewEnrica and many of its crew were sile ;rd British. Years later, Britain paid dingn reparations for ships lost to the P*n8id Alabama. ^It marauded in the Atlantic ^ar*a- Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, but anc*id never made port in the 9?*eer, Confederate States, then sailed saeral to the South China Sea and back nav£ay. to the Atlantic, putting into ers’irt Cherbourg for repairs,in That’s where the Kearsarge er found it, but neither could fire inwou siona neutral port. Semmes sent a lel message to the Union captain, . *js- John A. Winslow, offering to meet .ry in international waters. |;or As thousands watched from ^ ^ 68 the coast, they exchanged fire for ^ng an hour. The Kearsarge survived tegj.what could have been a fatal blow ^iat when an explosive shell failed to ^ 'ith go off after striking its sternpost. ^Union officers described the ?at Alabama’s fire as erratic. Somea s Misof shots also were deflected byfar anchor chains strung across the mjsw- Kearsarge’s wooden hull and hid- on\yhis den behind planking. Raphael ^ras Semmes later blamed defective Qa\ite, gunpowder and insisted he had iau]ize not realized the Kearsarge was eraan “ironclad.” the There also were controver- $goeat sies over the role of a British ne\;e,” yacht that rescued the HaConfederate captain and some s a crew, allowing them to avoid cap-avy ture, and shots fired by both sides ies. after the Alabama struck its eol-m- ors.ial- The yacht took Raphael9th Semmes to Britain, where he was ing presented with a sword inscribed ant from “officers of the Royal Navyand other friends in England.” It vho now is a treasured possession of avy his great-great grandson, ap- Federal authorities chargedn of the Confederate admiral with vio-the lating rules of war after the Southid a surrendered, but he wasang released when former captivesxas testified they received humanethe treatment.“Raphael Semmes was very eat- much maligned by some,” Oliverint- Semmes said. “Certainly he wasima praised by more. He alwayssuf- sought the truth.”iess Semmes said he has tried toper- do the same through his role inrecovery of pieces of his fore-was bearer’s ship,rge. “I’m interested,” he said, “inand the preservation of an accurate :rew history, especially about him.”
Newspaper Details
Northwest Florida Daily News
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, US
Mon, Sep 10, 2001
Page 21
Full Page
Clipped by
Dorothy B.
PA, USA 28 Jun 2020
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