Battle of Cherbourg (1864)
Battle of Cherbourg | |||||||
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Part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Confederate States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John Winslow | Raphael Semmes | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
USS Kearsarge | CSS Alabama | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1 screw sloop-of-war 163 sailors[1] |
1 screw sloop-of-war 149 sailors[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 died of wounds 2 wounded[2] |
1 ship sunk 19 died (9 KIA, 10 drowned)[1] 21 wounded[1] ~70 captured ~38 to 41 Confederate sailors were rescued by a British yacht and escaped capture. |
The Battle of Cherbourg, or sometimes the Battle off Cherbourg or the Sinking of CSS Alabama, was a
Background
After five successful
Kearsarge had a form of makeshift armor-cladding, medium-weight chain cable
On June 14, Kearsarge finally caught up with Alabama as she was receiving repairs. Kearsarge did not attack, as Alabama was in a neutral port; instead, she waited, initiating a blockade of CSS Alabama in Cherbourg. Union Captain Winslow telegraphed USS St. Louis to request her assistance, but the fighting began before she could arrive. Confederate Captain Semmes used the time to drill his men for the coming battle. On June 19, Alabama, with nowhere else to go, ran up the Stars and Bars and exited the harbor to attack Kearsarge. She was escorted by the French Navy ironclad Couronne,[3] whose mission was to ensure that the ensuing battle occurred outside the French harbor.
Battle
Captain Winslow spotted the departing Confederate raider, so he turned his ship around to take the impending battle out of French territorial waters. Once out, Kearsarge turned about again, hoisted the United States Navy Jack, and lined up for a broadside. Captain Winslow ordered his gunners to hold their fire until the range closed. Alabama fired the first shots from the 100-pound pivot gun.[1] They are not known to have hit. Eventually the range closed to within 1,000 yards (910 m) and Kearsarge fired her first shot. The two warships maneuvered on opposite courses throughout the battle. Kearsarge and Alabama made seven spiraling circles around each other, moving southwest in a 3-knot (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) current. Both Captain Semmes and Captain Winslow attempted to cross each other's bow, hoping to inflict heavy raking fire. Three of the Kearsarge 11-inch shells entered the Alabama's 8-inch gun port.[1] The Alabama gunpowder was damaged and defective; her guns gave out a dull report with thick and heavy vapor while the Kearsarge battery was clear and sharp with powder burning like thin vapor.[1][non-primary source needed]
The battle continued in this manner for several minutes; in the meantime, on the French coast, hundreds watched the battle. Kearsarge's armor cladding sustained two hits during the engagement.[citation needed] The first shell, a 32-pounder, struck the starboard gangway, cutting part of the chain armor and denting the wooden planking underneath.[4] The second shot was again a 32-pounder that exploded and broke a link of the chain. Both hits struck the chain five feet above the waterline and therefore did not threaten the boilers or machinery. The gunnery of Kearsarge was reportedly more accurate than that of the Confederates. She fired slowly with well-aimed shots, while Alabama fired rapidly. Alabama fired a total of over 370 rounds during the fighting; it is not known how many Kearsarge fired, but it is known that she fired many fewer than the Confederates did. Eventually, after just over an hour of exchanging artillery fire, Alabama had received shot-holes beneath the waterline from Kearsarge's Dahlgren guns and began to sink. Captain Semmes struck the Confederate colors, but still Kearsarge continued firing until a white flag was seen, raised by one of the Confederate sailors with his hand. The battle was over, so Captain Semmes sent his remaining dinghy to Captain Winslow, to ask for aid.[citation needed]
During the battle, 40 Confederate sailors were casualties (19 killed in action or drowned and 21 wounded). Another seventy or so were picked up by Kearsarge. Thirty or so were rescued by Deerhound, a
Aftermath
In art
For many years after the battle, Confederate Captain Semmes stated that he would never have chosen to test Kearsarge had he known of her armor-clad protection. Alabama had destroyed or captured dozens of Union merchant vessels during her Atlantic cruises, and when word of Alabama's sinking reached the northeastern United States, many Northerners were joyful.
The 37th album of Les Tuniques Bleues, titled Duel dans la Manche ("Duel in the Channel"), takes place during the Battle of Cherbourg, on USS Kearsarge.[6]
The battle was commemorated in the sea shanty "Roll, Alabama, Roll".
Wreck of Alabama
In November 1984, the French minesweeper Circé located the wreck of Alabama at a depth of 60 meters (200 ft), a little under 10 kilometers (5.4 nmi; 6.2 mi) north of the western approaches of Cherbourg roads (49°45′9″N 01°41′42″W / 49.75250°N 1.69500°W).[7] Captain Max Guerout later confirmed that the wreck was that of Alabama.
In 1988, a nonprofit organisation named the CSS Alabama Association[8] was created to conduct a scientific survey of the wreck. Although it now lies in French territorial waters, the U.S. government claimed possession on the grounds that the location where Alabama had struck to Kearsarge had not been within French territorial waters at the time of the battle. On 3 October 1989, France and the United States signed an agreement recognising the wreck as a common historic heritage for both nations and established a joint scientific team for its exploration.
On 23 March 1995, the CSS Alabama Association and the
See also
- Bahia Incident
- Battle of Havana (1870)
- SS Cantabria
- William B. Poole, Medal of Honor recipient for service on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge in the battle
Gallery
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Deck scene cruiser Alabama showing First Lieutenant John M. Kell, by the ships stern during her visit to Cape Town in August 1863.
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Deck scene cruiser Alabama in August 1863 - Lts Armstrong and Sinclair at Sinclair's 32-pounder station[10]
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USS Kearsarge, in an 1861 photograph
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The deck of Kearsarge after her engagement with CSS Alabama
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Crew of the USS Kearsarge in 1864 after the battle; showing both 11 Inch guns pointed to starboard as they were during the battle.
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Firing the forward 11 inch gun on the Kearsarge
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The aft 11 inch gun on the Kearsarge used against the CSS Alabama[11]
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Sinking of the CSS Alabama, engraving, Harper's Weekly Magazine, 23 July 1864
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The Fight between the Alabama and the Kearsarge, 1864 engraving
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The Kearsarge at Boulogne (1864), by Édouard Manet, Metropolitan Museum of Art
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The Sinking of the CSS Alabama, unidentified artist
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Engraving by Louis Le Breton (by 1866)
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Replica of USS Kearsarge on display at the 1893 Grand Army of the Republic national convention in Indianapolis, Indiana
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USS Kearsarge in Battle (1936), byFranklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library
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CSS Alabama (1961), by J.W. Schmidt, Naval History and Heritage Command
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U.S. Navy recruiting poster highlighting Joachim Pease, 1970s
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h On authority of CSS Alabama Executive master John McIntosh Kell "Cruise and Combats of the Alabama" Johnson & Buel 1888, Vol. IV, p. 614
- ^ Seaman William Gowin died of wounds; two others wounded. Ref: Johnson & Buel 1888, Vol. IV, pp. 622–623
- ^ Combat naval à Cherbourg (1864), Wikimanche
- ISBN 978-1400044290.
- ^ Johnson & Buel 1888, pp. 622–623
- ^ "37. Duel dans la Manche". Les Tuniques Bleues.
- ^ Épave de l'Alabama, Cherbourg 1864, Centre européen de recherches et d'études sous-marines
- ^ "CSS Alabama Association". Archived from the original on 2004-09-24. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
- ^ "NH 57256-KN CSS Alabama (1862-1864)". Naval History and Heritage Command.
- ^ Sinclair, Arthur, Lt. CSN (1896). Two Years on the Alabama. Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "NH 52029 USS Kearsarge (1862-1894)". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
References
- Bowcock, Andrew (2002). CSS Alabama, Anatomy of a Confederate Raider. London, UK: Chatham Publishing. p. 191. OCLC 48931829.[permanent dead link]
- Delaney, Norman C. (1973), ""Old Beeswax": Raphael Semmes of the Alabama", Civil War Times Illustrated, XII (8): 12, OCLC 671281286
- Gindlesperger, James (2003). Fire on the Water: The USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama. Shippensburg, PA: Burd Street Press. p. 333. OCLC 52071690.
- Hearn, Chester G. (1992). Gray Raiders of the Sea: How Eight Confederate Warships Destroyed the Union's High Seas Commerce. Camden, ME: International Marine Pub. p. 351. OCLC 36205979.
- Johnson, R.U.; Buel, C.C., eds. (1888). Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. IV. New York: The Century Company.
- Luraghi, Raimondo (1996). A History of the Confederate Navy. Annapolis, MD: U. S. Naval Institute Press. p. 514. OCLC 682950313.
- Madaus, H. Michael (1986), "Rebel Flags Afloat: A Survey of the Surviving Flags of the Confederate States Navy, Revenue Service, and Merchant Marine", The Flag Bulletin (115), Winchester, MA: Flag Research Center, OCLC 185432467
- Marvel, William (1996). The Alabama & the Kearsarge: The Sailor's Civil War. Civil War America. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 337. OCLC 47010328.
- Roberts, Arthur C., M.D. (1999), "Reconstructing USS Kearsarge, 1864", Nautical Research Journal, 44 (4), Silver Springs, MD, )
- Semmes, Raphael, Admiral, CSN (1869). Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States. Baltimore, MD: Kelly, Piet & Co. )
- Still, William N. Jr.; Taylor, John M.; Delaney, Norman C. (1998). Raiders & Blockaders: The American Civil War Afloat. Dulles, VA: Brassy's, Inc. p. 263. OCLC 46768948.
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