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The voyage of the CSS Shenandoah

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In a 13-month, 58,000-mile cruise, a Confederate commerce raider circumnavigated the globe, captured 38 vessels, burnt 32 and ransomed six

Date published: 9/9/2006

SEA OF GRAY: THE AROUND- THE-WORLD ODYSSEY OF THE CONFEDERATE RAIDER SHENANDOAH, by Tom Chaffin. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. xiv, 432 pp. Maps, illustrations, appendices, endnotes, bibliography, index. $25

I N 1860, the United States had one of the largest merchant fleets in the world. Five years later, U.S. merchant ships had declined considerably in numbers. Part of this decline was the direct result of depredations by Confederate commerce raiders such as the Alabama, Florida and Shenandoah. The fear inspired by these raiders had an even bigger impact on American shipping, as ownership of vessels was transferred overseas to avoid capture by raiders and high insurance rates.

The Lincoln administration condemned the raiders' actions as acts of piracy. But the Confederates were only doing what the fledgling United States had done in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

Because the Southern states had no great tradition of blue-water maritime prowess, the Confederacy for the most part resorted to purchasing appropriate vessels abroad and converting them into warships in out-of-the-way anchorages. Most of the vessels that became raiders were built or purchased in Great Britain.

Such was the case with the CSS Shenandoah, which began life in Glasgow, Scotland, as the auxiliary steamer Sea King in 1863, and had made one commercial voyage to New Zealand prior to its purchase by the Confederates in September 1864. It sailed from Liverpool the following month, and was converted into a raider near Madeira, Portugal. Its captain, James I. Waddell, had orders to destroy the U.S. whaling fleet in the North Pacific.

The Sea King sailed in bare-bones condition, and the conversion that made it the CSS Shenandoah was hasty. The result was that the fledgling raider lacked many of the normal accoutrements of a warship, such as gun ports and cabin furniture. Most of the latter deficiencies were made up with items from captured ships. But there was one problem that could not be solved. The vessel had not been built for service in waters where it would come into contact with large amounts of ice.

Date published: 9/9/2006