Editing CSS Shenandoah (section)

{{short description|Confederate Navy warship}}
{{About|the 19th-century ship CSS Shenandoah||Shenandoah (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin|infobox caption=CSS ''Shenandoah''}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image       = CSSShenandoah.jpg
|Ship image size  = 300px
|Ship caption     = On a slip at [[Williamstown, Victoria|Williamstown]], Colony of Victoria (now a suburb of [[Melbourne, Australia]]) in 1865}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header      =
|Ship country     = Confederate States
|Ship flag        = {{Shipboxflag|Confederate States of America|naval}}
|Ship name        = ''Sea King'', ''Shenandoah'', ''El Majidi'' 
|Ship namesake    =
|Ship owner       =
|Ship operator    =
|Ship registry    = [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]]
|Ship route       =
|Ship ordered     =
|Ship awarded     =
|Ship builder     = [[Alexander Stephen and Sons|Alexander Stephen & Sons]], [[River Clyde]], [[Scotland]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number = 42<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=3080 |title=SS Sea King |last1=Cameron |first1=Stuart |website=Clydebuilt Ships Database |access-date=6 November 2015 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305203057/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=3080 |archive-date=5 March 2014 }}</ref>
|Ship way number  =
|Ship laid down   =
|Ship launched    = August 17, 1863
|Ship sponsor     =
|Ship christened  =
|Ship completed   =
|Ship acquired    = 1863
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned=October 19, 1864
|Ship decommissioned=November 6, 1865
|Ship maiden voyage= Transport troops to New Zealand and return, 10 months
|Ship in service  =
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed     = CSS ''Shenandoah'' 
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit       =
|Ship struck      =
|Ship reinstated  =
|Ship homeport    =
|Ship motto       =
|Ship fate        = As ''El Majidi'' foundered in November 1879
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type= Extreme clipper hull
|Ship tonnage=1018 grt, 790 nrt
|Ship displacement=
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|230|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|32.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draft={{convert|20|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks= poop, main, berth
|Ship deck clearance= {{convert|7.5|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship power= 200 [[Horsepower#Mechanical horsepower|HP]] [[A. & J. Inglis]] steam engine
|Ship propulsion= {{convert|14|ft|m|adj=mid|-diameter|abbr=on}} bronze propeller
|Ship sail plan= [[Full-rigged ship]]
|Ship speed=*{{convert|8|kn|km/h}} under steam
* {{convert|16|kn|km/h}} under sail
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=109 officers and men
|Ship crew=
|Ship armament=*4 × 8 in (203 mm) smoothbore cannons,
* 2 × 12 pounder (5 kg) rifled [[Field artillery in the American Civil War#Whitworth|Whitworth cannons]],
* 2 × 32 pounder (15 kg) cannons
|Ship notes=
|}}
|}

'''CSS ''Shenandoah''''', formerly '''''Sea King''''' and later '''''El Majidi''''', was an iron-framed, teak-planked, [[full-rigged ship|full-rigged sailing ship]] with auxiliary [[steam-powered ship|steam power]] chiefly known for her actions under Lieutenant Commander [[James Iredell Waddell|James Waddell]] as part of the [[Confederate States Navy]] during the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="balwin611">Baldwin, pp. 6–11</ref>

''Shenandoah'' was originally a British [[merchant ship]] launched as ''Sea King'' on August 17, 1863, but was later repurposed as one of the most feared [[commerce raiding|commerce raiders]] in the [[Confederate Navy]]. For twelve-and-a-half months from 1864 to 1865, the ship undertook commerce raiding around the world in an effort to disrupt the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union's]] economy, capturing and sinking or [[ransom bond|bonding]] 38 merchant vessels, mostly [[Whaler|whaling ships]] from [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]]. She finally surrendered on the [[River Mersey]], [[Liverpool]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]], on November 6, 1865, six months after the war had ended.

''Shenandoah'' is also known for having fired the last shot of the Civil War, across the bow of a whaler in waters off the [[Aleutian Islands]].<ref>Baldwin, p. 255</ref>