CSS Shenandoah - Confederate Raider
Last Confederate Ship to Surrender
The Sea King sailed out of Liverpool, England and secretly rendezvoused off the coast of Madeira with the blockade-runner Laurel, which offloaded Confederate officers and guns. Under the command of James I. Waddell, the Sea King was commissioned as the CSS Shenandoah on October 19, 1864. Sidney Smith Lee, Jr., nephew of Robert E. Lee, served as the third lieutenant.
Shenandoah displaced 1160 tons, had a beam of 32 feet and a length of 230 feet. She was a fully rigged ship with 21 working sails and also had an auxiliary steam engine capable of 9 knots. Her armament consisted of four - eight inch 68 pounders, two - twelve pounders, all smoothbore, and two-rifled Whitworth 32 pounders.
A Confederate Welcome
As the Shenandoah sailed from England around the Cape of Good Hope, she captured five prizes. The pride of the Confederate Navy put into Melbourne, Australia on January 25, 1865, where she was received with honors. Shenandoah spent four weeks dry-docked for repairs. Upon leaving Australia, she headed to the Pacific.
CSS Shenandoah: Valiant Confederate Ship
Dr. F.J. McNulty, serving as the ship’s assistant surgeon, wrote about the day in his journal.
“On the 5th of July (1865) occurred our greatest day's work--perhaps the greatest destruction ever served upon an enemy in a single day by one ship.”
On a morning that dawned thick with fog in the waters just outside the Arctic Circle, the Shenandoah decimated a whaling fleet of eleven ships, most of them hailing from New Bedford. The raider captured so many prisoners that some had to be towed behind her. The remaining whalers were put to the torch.
As a result of the Shenandoah’s actions that day, President Johnson issued a proclamation of outlawry against the Confederate raider.
Confederate Collaspe
On the 2nd of August the Shenandoah attempted at take the English ship, Barracoutta. However, her captain informed the Shenandoah’s boarding officer that the war was over and produced San Francisco and New York papers and told them of the final collapse of the Confederacy.
Captain Waddell swung his guns between the decks and closed the portholes. The ship’s hull was repainted to resemble an ordinary merchant ship. After some discussion with his crew, Waddell decided to sail for Liverpool and the ship’s prow was pointed for Cape Horn.
Shenandoah avoided contact with all other shipping. She used the last of her coal supply in rounding Cape Horn and on November 6h, not quite six months after the war ended, Shenandoah sailed up the Mersey River in England with the Confederate flag proudly displayed.
Shenandoah had been at sea for 12 months and 17 days and had captured 38 prizes, most of them after the war ended.
Sources:
Confederate Navy Research Center
Department of the Navy -- Navy Historical Center
CSS Shenandoah drydocked in Melbourne, Australia
|
Commander James Iredell Waddell, CSN
|
What do you think about this article?
More in History
Latest Articles