The CSS Alabama Sank 150 Years Ago Today

Crewmembers on The CSS Alabama

     The Alabama was a combination steam/sail ship built by an English company. England was supposedly neutral in the U.S. Civil War, but the government officials looked the other way as the Alabama and other warships were built.
     She went on a rampage against U.S. ships of commerce from the North, seizing more than 60, taking their valuable cargo and burning the vessels.      
     She sunk just one Northern war ship. 
    

She herself was sunk by another U.S. warship off Cherbourg, France after an hour long cannon battle on June 18, 1864. Most of the crew survived.

Bob Corley and I, 2008

The CSS Alabama, left, sinks off the coast of France, 1864

Much more about the Confederate ship that bore Alabama's name at a website Bob Corley and I ran as a prelude to a documentary we hoped to produce about her...a project that failed as a result of The Great Recession, and that really was a "Lost Cause". 
     One entry on that website is about the last battle in France, including a first-hand account. 
UPDATE: Another excellent source of info about the Alabama is at the U.S. Naval Historical Blog.