Raphael Semmes and the Alabama

Civil War Campaigns and Commanders Series

by Spencer C. Tucker, Grady McWhiney (Editor)

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.

110 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

Reviews

[William Sariego · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent book in a good series. You won't find new revelations here but you will find a decent over view of the subject matter in each volume.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spencer C. Tucker is a great writer; that's the reason I picked this one up. And it's well-written. It's just... short. I didn't know when I put it on my to-get list that this is one of a series of introductory-level "short-subject" books.

If you've never read about Semmes and the Alabama, this is a great introduction. If you've read about them before, though, you might want to look for something longer. (Look for other books by Tucker while you're at it. He writes even better when he's not constrained to such a short format, and I know of no other author who knows more about Civil War era naval ordnance and gunnery.)