The Man Who Stopped The Rams

Jim Klag

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September 3, 1863 - Lord Russell (Great Britain) orders two ironclad Laird Rams bound for the Confederacy to be detained.

It's a pretty long article but worth reading.

 

diane

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Adams was the one who analyzed all the info Dudley gathered and then went to Russell with of course you know this means war... Ummm... Bulloch, for his part, was working with great might and main to get those ships done and delivered - the Laird rams were top of the line technology and would have evened up the odds on the water. Think of how those rams could have been used in river warfare!
 

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The CSS Alabama was the ship Dudley really tried to stop. Very close - quite a cinematic shot, too! James Bulloch had the wheel and was headed out of Liverpool - which was nicknamed the Port of the Confederacy. He was sailing out from the Birkenhead wharf down the estuary of the River Mersey while Dudley and a gaggle of port authorities were literally running beside the ship screaming stop! pirates! stop! (The mostly British crew thought they were having fits - they didn't know until they got to the Azores that they were the crew of a Confederate ship!)
 

Jim Klag

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The CSS Alabama was the ship Dudley really tried to stop. Very close - quite a cinematic shot, too! James Bulloch had the wheel and was headed out of Liverpool - which was nicknamed the Port of the Confederacy. He was sailing out from the Birkenhead wharf down the estuary of the River Mersey while Dudley and a gaggle of port authorities were literally running beside the ship screaming stop! pirates! stop! (The mostly British crew thought they were having fits - they didn't know until they got to the Azores that they were the crew of a Confederate ship!)
John Winslow and USS Kearsarge finally took care of the Alabama. She had a good run against unarmed merchant ships but bit the bullet after her first meeting with the US Navy. It only took about an hour.
 

diane

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Semmes had a critical flaw, which seemed widespread in the Confederacy - overwhelming pride! He didn't have to fight, as you say. But...pride said he had to sally forth and get his head busted. However, it wasn't until some time after the battle Winslow found out how close he came to being one of the caretakers of Davy Jones locker - a shell from the Alabama was stuck in the main shaft of his ship! It was a dud...but it made Winslow's life pass before his eyes...
 

Kirk's Raider's

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Semmes had a critical flaw, which seemed widespread in the Confederacy - overwhelming pride! He didn't have to fight, as you say. But...pride said he had to sally forth and get his head busted. However, it wasn't until some time after the battle Winslow found out how close he came to being one of the caretakers of Davy Jones locker - a shell from the Alabama was stuck in the main shaft of his ship! It was a dud...but it made Winslow's life pass before his eyes...
From what I remember from the web site that shall not be named is that the Kerarsarge crew was far better trained and practiced in naval gunnery has they could optain cannon rounds with no problems vs the crew of the Alabama.
Kirk's Raiders
 

diane

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From what I remember from the web site that shall not be named is that the Kerarsarge crew was far better trained and practiced in naval gunnery has they could optain cannon rounds with no problems vs the crew of the Alabama.
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It seemed they were well matched, which is why the battle had a huge audience. The Battle of Cherbourg. Kearsarge was there to find the Confederate raider - like Johnny Horton's Sink the Bismark! - and it only took two hours for Semmes to raise the white flag. He blamed the chains Winslow strung over his ship, Winslow was old-school and said gimme your sword. Semmes jumped overboard with it, dropped it in the sea and was rescued by the Deerhound, a British yacht sitting in the harbor watching the show. Winslow felt cheated by the Confederate commander, especially when he did not surrender to him but swam off to a buddy and hid out in England. (Presently Semmes returned from England with a company of his marines as a general. He became the only guy in either army to be both an admiral and a general!)
 

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Presently Semmes returned from England with a company of his marines as a general. He became the only guy in either army to be both an admiral and a general
LOL, yes
 

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After the war, Semmes was arrested, which sparked a whole lot of concern for Forrest. That Guy himself was not concerned. His parole and the amnesty covered everything he'd done during the war but Semmes' did not cover international piracy! Arrgh, matey...
 

O' Be Joyful

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After the war, Semmes was arrested, which sparked a whole lot of concern for Forrest. That Guy himself was not concerned. His parole and the amnesty covered everything he'd done during the war but Semmes' did not cover international piracy! Arrgh, matey...

But IIRC, his general's rank eventually gave him an out.

Seems that Semmes was not old-school enough to adhere to the old saw that a captain goes down w/ his ship and he thus "escaped" Davy Jones' locker and later the noose.
 

diane

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Exactly! Specifically, he was charged with doing a swan dive off the bridge of his ship while flying a flag of truce. (Other things were added but that's the basic charge.)
 

O' Be Joyful

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I did not read the full article but it should be remembered that James Bulloch was the uncle of Theodore--don't call me Teddy--Roosevelt.

And Alice was a pistol.



This one seems to have some modern relevance...

 
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