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CSS Alabama
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CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederacy in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company, Liverpool, England. Under the command of Captain Raphael Semmes, Alabama spent its first two months capturing and burning ships in the North Atlantic and intercepting American grain ships bound for Europe. Continuing the path of destruction through the West Indies, Alabama sank USS Hatteras along the Texas coast and captured her crew. After a visit to Cape Town, South Africa, Alabama sailed for the East Indies where the ship spent six months cruising, destroying seven more ships before redoubling the Cape en route to Europe. |
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| On 11 June 1864, Alabama arrived in Cherbourg, France and Captain Semmes requested permission to dock and overhaul his ship. Pursuing the raider, the American sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge arrived three days later and took up a patrol just outside the harbor. On 19 June, Alabama sailed out to meet Kearsarge,. A little more than an hour after the first shot was fired, Alabama was reduced to a sinking wreck, causing Semmes to strike his colors and send a boat to surrender. While Kearsarge rescued most of Alabama's survivors, Semmes and 41 others were picked up by the British yacht Deerhound and escaped to England. During its two-year career as a commerce raider, Alabama caused disorder and devastation across the globe for United States merchant shipping. The Confederate cruiser claimed more than 60 prizes valued at nearly $6,000,000.
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One hundred and twenty years after its loss, the French Navy mine hunter Circe discovered a wreck under nearly 200 feet of water off Cherbourg, France. French Navy Captain Max Guerout later confirmed the wreck to be Alabama's remains.
In 1988, a non-profit organization, the Association CSS Alabama, was founded to conduct scientific exploration of the shipwreck. Although the wreck resides within French territorial waters, the U.S. government, as the successor to the former Confederate States of America, is the owner. On 3 October 1989, the United States and France signed an agreement recognizing this wreck as an important heritage resource of both nations and establishing a Joint French-American Scientific Committee for archaeological exploration. This agreement established a precedent for international cooperation in archaeological research and in the protection of a unique historic shipwreck.
In 1992 the Naval Historical Center requested assistance of SRC to evaluate the underwater archeological efforts of the French team. In June 1993, SRC archeologists (Dan Lenihan and Larry Murphy) and photographer (John Brooks) were on-site in Cherbourg to participate as observers and evaluators of the French underwater research operations. It was the first time American archeologists had dived on the site. Prior to this time visiting archeologists had been relegated to observing videotape and debriefing divers. SRC had the deep-air-diving capability to join the French team on the bottom. After three weeks of participation, SRC forwarded a written trip report to the Chief of Naval History accompanied by a video report. The general findings of SRC were that the quality of French research operations was quite good given the conditions the French were working in.
In 1995, the Naval Historical Center signed an agreement with Association CSS Alabama in France and its sister organization CSS Alabama Association in America, putting the international group in charge of future underwater investigations on the site.
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- 1993 The SRC was requested by the US Naval Historical Center to observe the French archeological documentation and excavation methodologies of the CSS Alabama. Daniel Lenihan and Larry Murphy, Archeologists; John Brooks, Photographer.
Reference:
- Daniel J. Lenihan, Daniel J., 2002, Chapter 20 in Submerged: Adventures of Americas Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team, Newmarket Press, New York.
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