Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
CSS Shenandoah
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{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> ==History and mission== [[File:CSSShenandoah-sketch.jpg|thumb|left|A pencil sketch of CSS ''Shenandoah'', from the inside cover of a notebook kept by her commanding officer]] [[File:JamesIredellWaddellCSA.jpg|thumb|left|Commander [[James I. Waddell]]]] The ship had three names and many owners in her lifetime of nine years. She was designed as an auxiliary composite passenger cargo ship of 1,018 [[Tonnage|tons]] and built in 1863 by Alexander Stephen & Sons, [[Glasgow]], Scotland, for Robertson & Co., Glasgow, to be named ''Sea King''. The ship was intended for the [[East Asia]] tea trade and as a [[Troopship|troop transport]]. While she was being fitted out at the builders, US representatives assessed the ship for purchase.<ref name="wrecksite.eu">[http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?59741#87503 SS ''El Majidi''] Wrecksite</ref> After change of owner and a number of trips to the Far East carrying cargo and to New Zealand transporting troops to the [[New Zealand Wars]], the Confederate navy assessed and purchased her from Wallace Bros of Liverpool. The purchase, made in secret, was completed on 18 October 1864, and the next day the ship was renamed CSS ''Shenandoah''. The ship was to be converted into an armed [[Cruiser#Steam cruisers|cruiser]] with a mission to capture and destroy Union merchant ships.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} Liverpool was the unofficial home port of the Confederate overseas fleet, and Confederate Commander [[James Dunwoody Bulloch]] was based in the city. The city provided ships, crews, munitions, and provisions of war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/index.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413005857/http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/index.htm |archive-date=2014-04-13 }}</ref> ''Sea King'' sailed from London on 8 October 1864, ostensibly for [[Bombay]] on a trading voyage. The supply steamer ''Laurel'' sailed from Liverpool the same day. The two ships rendezvoused at [[Funchal]], [[Madeira]], with ''Laurel'' carrying the officers and the nucleus of ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s crew, together with naval guns, ammunition, and ship's stores. ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s commander, Lieutenant [[James Iredell Waddell]], supervised her conversion to a [[man-of-war]] in nearby waters. However, Waddell was barely able to bring his crew to even half strength, despite additional volunteers from the merchant sailors on ''Sea King'' and from ''Laurel''.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} The new Confederate cruiser was commissioned on 19 October 1864, lowering the [[Union Jack]] and raising the "[[Flags of the Confederate States of America#Second flag|Stainless Banner]]", and was renamed CSS ''Shenandoah''.<ref name="balwin611"/> As developed in the [[Confederate States Department of the Navy|Confederate Navy Department]] and by its agents in Europe, ''Shenandoah'' was tasked to strike at the Union's economy and "seek out and utterly destroy" commerce in areas yet undisturbed. Captain Waddell began seeking enemy merchant ships on the [[Indian Ocean]] route between the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and Australia, and in the Pacific whaling fleet.<ref name="balwin611"/> En route to the Cape, the Confederates captured six [[prize (law)|prizes]]. Five were burned or scuttled, after the crew and passengers had been removed. The sixth was bonded and used to transport the prisoners to [[Salvador, Brazil|Bahia, Brazil]], where they were released. On the 2 January 1865, the ''Shenandoah'' briefly stopped at [[Île Saint-Paul]], and some of the crew debarked to explore the island and gather food. ===Colony of Victoria stopover=== {{further|Australia and the American Civil War}} [[File:CSS Shenandoah world travels 1865.png|thumb|left|Map of ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s 12½-month voyage around the world (21st-century boundaries shown)]] Still short-handed, ''Shenandoah'' arrived at [[Melbourne]], [[Colony of Victoria]], on January 25, 1865, where she filled her complement and her storerooms.<ref name="baldwin, p. 85">Baldwin, p. 85</ref> She also signed on 40 crew members who had been stowaways from Melbourne. They were not enlisted until the ship was outside the Colony of Victoria's territorial waters.<ref name="baldwin, p. 85"/> The Shipping Articles show all 40 crew members had enlisted on the day of her departure from Melbourne, February 18, 1865. However, 19 of Waddell's crew deserted at Melbourne, some giving statements of their service to the United States Consul.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} ===Pacific raids=== [[File:Shenandoah_destroying_whale_ships.jpg|thumb|Shenandoah destroying whaling ships]] ''Shenandoah'' took only one prize in the Indian Ocean, but hunting became more profitable after refitting in Melbourne. En route to the [[North Pacific]] whaling grounds, on April 3–4, Waddell burned four whalers in the [[Caroline Islands]]. After a three-week cruise to the ice and fog of the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] yielded only a single prize, due to a warning which had preceded him, Waddell headed north past the [[Aleutian Islands]] into the [[Bering Sea]] and the [[Arctic Ocean]]. ''Shenandoah'' then proceeded to capture 11 more prizes.<ref name="baldwin247">Baldwin, pp. 238–254</ref> The rich whaling grounds in the Bering Sea between [[Siberia]] and [[Alaska]] had been a safe haven for Yankee whalers for most of the American Civil War. This prosperous whaling ended in the spring and summer of 1865 when ''Shenandoah'' arrived and captured 20 of the 58 Yankee whalers working there. These whalers were destroyed more than a month after CSA President [[Jefferson Davis]] was captured on May 10, 1865. On June 27, 1865, Waddell learned from a prize, ''Susan & Abigail'', that General [[Robert E. Lee]] had surrendered the [[Army of Northern Virginia]] almost three months earlier at [[Battle of Appomattox Court House|Appomattox Court House]]. ''Susan & Abigail'''s captain produced a San Francisco newspaper reporting the flight from [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] of the Confederate government 10 weeks previously. However, the newspaper also contained President Davis' proclamation that the "war would be carried on with renewed vigor."<ref name="last" /> Waddell then captured 10 more whalers in the space of seven hours just below the [[Arctic Circle]]. On August 3, 1865, Waddell learned of the war's definite end when ''Shenandoah'' encountered the Liverpool [[barque]] ''Barracouta'', which was bound for San Francisco. Waddell was heading to the city to attack it, believing it weakly defended.<ref name="whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/surrender.htm|title=Surrender of the Shenandoah|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626171650/http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/surrender.htm|archive-date=2015-06-26}}</ref> He learned of the surrender of [[Joseph E. Johnston|Johnston's]] army on April 26, and [[Edmund Kirby Smith|Kirby Smith's]] army on May 26, and most crucially of the capture of President Davis. Captain Waddell then knew the war was over.<ref name="last">Hunt, Cornelius E. ''Last Confederate Cruiser, by one of her officers''. page 267</ref> Captain Waddell lowered the Confederate flag, and ''Shenandoah'' underwent physical alteration. Her guns were dismounted and stowed below deck, and her hull was painted to look like an ordinary merchant ship.<ref name="Gaines">{{cite book|last=Gaines|first=W. Craig|title=Encyclopedia of Civil War shipwrecks |publisher=Louisiana State University Press|location=Baton Rouge|year=2008|pages=13–25|isbn=978-0-8071-3274-6 <!--0807132748-->|oclc= 255822065|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=90d2LcmfpCcC&pg=PA20}}</ref><ref name="Thomsen">{{cite book|last=Thomsen|first=Brian M.|title=Blue & Gray at Sea: Naval Memoirs of the Civil War |publisher=Forge|location=New York |year=2004|series=Extracts from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion|pages=279–287|chapter=Abstract Log of C.S.S.Shenandoah, Lieutenant Commanding J.I. Waddell, C.S. Navy Commanding|isbn= 9780765308962|oclc=173166438|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rb202b80x6sC&pg=PA279}}</ref> Names and dates of 38 vessels captured by CSS ''Shenandoah'', 1864–1865: {{div col}} * 1. October 30, 1864: the cargo [[Barque|bark]] ''Alina'' is [[scuttling|scuttled]] south of the [[Azores]], west of [[Dakar]], near {{Coord|16|47|N|26|43|W}}. * 2. November 6: the cargo [[schooner]] ''Charter Oak'' of [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], is burned in the mid-Atlantic at {{Coord|7|35|N|27|46|W}}. * 3. November 8: the cargo bark ''D. Godfrey'' of Boston is sunk southwest of the [[Cape Verde Islands]], near {{Coord|6|28.5|N|28|24|W}}. * 4. November 10: the cargo [[hermaphrodite brig]] ''Susan'' of Boston is scuttled southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. * 5, 6. November 12: the neutral cargo [[Full-rigged ship|ship]] ''Kate Prince'' of [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], is bonded for $40,000 at {{Coord|1|45|N|29|22|W}}; the prisoners are sent to [[Bahia]], Brazil. The bark ''Adelaide'' is [[ransom]]ed for $24,000 and released. * 7. November 13: the cargo schooner ''Lizzie M. Stacey of Boston'' is scuttled and burned near the Equator. * 8. December 4: the whaling bark ''Edward'' is burned off [[Tristan da Cunha]], near {{Coord|37|47|S|12|30.5|W}}. * 9. December 29: the bark ''Delphine'' of [[Bangor, Maine]] is burned at {{Coord|12|13|S|68|33|E}} in the [[Indian Ocean]], {{convert|1550|km}} south-southwest of [[India]]. * From January 26 to February 17, 1865, repairs, crew recruiting and resupply was done at [[Hobson's Bay]], Australia. * 10. April 3: the whaling bark ''Pearl'' of [[New London, Connecticut|New London]] is burned at [[Lohd Pah Harbor]] {{Coord|6|48|37|N|158|18|58|E}}, [[Pohnpei|Pohnpei Island]] in [[Federated States of Micronesia|Micronesia]]. * 11, 12. April 4: the whaling ships ''Hector'' of New Bedford and ''Edward Carey'' of San Francisco are burned at Lohd Pah Harbor. * 13. April 10: the whaling bark ''Harvest'', nominally of [[Honolulu]], is also burned at Lohd Pah Harbor; at 7:30 AM, ''Shenandoah'' departs Lohd Pah Harbor for the [[Bering Sea]]. * 14. May 28: the whaling bark ''Abigail'' of New Bedford is burned in the [[Sea of Okhotsk]] at {{Coord|57|7|N|153|1|E}}, {{convert|1000|km|abbr=on}} north of the [[Kurile Islands]]. * 15–20. June 22: in the Bering Sea, the whaling ship ''Euphrates'', of New Bedford, is burned near {{Coord|62|23|N|179|46|E}}; the whaling bark ''Jirah Swift'', of New Bedford, is burned; the whaling ship ''Milo'' is bonded for $46,000; the whaling ship ''William Thompson'', of New Bedford, is burned northeast of Cape Narrows; the whaling bark ''Sophia Thornton'' of New Bedford is burned at {{Coord|62|40|N|178|50|W}}; and the brigantine ''Susan & Abigail'' of San Francisco is burned at {{Coord|62|48|N|179|4|W}}. * 21. June 25: the ship ''General Williams'' of New London is burned near [[St. Lawrence Island]] in the Bering Strait at {{Coord|63|50|N|172|58|W}}. * 22–27. June 26: the whaling barks ''Catherine'' and ''Isabella'' of New Bedford are burned in the Bering Sea at {{Coord|64|21|N|172|20|W}}; the whaling ship ''Gipsey'' is burned in the Bering Strait; the whaling ship ''William C. Nye'' of New Bedford is burned; the whaling ship ''Nimrod'' of New Bedford is burned near [[St. Lawrence Island]]; and finally, the whaling bark ''General Pike'' of New Bedford is bonded for $30,000, loaded with 252 prisoners, and sent off to San Francisco. * 28–38. June 28: on this last and busiest day of captures, the whaler {{ship||Brunswick|1827 ship|2}} is burned near Bering Strait Narrows; the whaling bark ''Congress'' of New Bedford is burned near Bering Strait; the whaling bark ''Covington'' of [[Warren, Rhode Island]] is burned in East Cape Bay near Bering Strait Narrows; the whaling ships ''Favorite'' of [[New Haven]] and ''Hillman'', ''Isaac Howland'', ''Martha'' and ''Nassau'' of New Bedford are burned in East Cape Bay; the whaling bark ''Waverly'' of New Bedford is burned near the [[Diomede Islands]]; the whaling ship ''James Maury'' of New Bedford is bonded for $37,600 in East Cape Bay and retained for transporting prisoners to the United States; and finally, the whaling bark ''Nile'' of New Bedford is bonded for $41,000, loaded with 222 prisoners, and sent off to San Francisco. {{div col end}} ==Surrender== [[File:Lieutenant John Grimball (1840-1922) of C.S.S. Shenandoah, Confederate Navy (A).jpg|thumb|Lieutenant John Grimball (1840–1922) of CSS ''Shenandoah'' by [[Georges Penabert]], a French photographer]] [[File:Rip Van Waddell.jpg|thumb|Editorial cartoon satirizing Lt. Cmdr [[James Iredell Waddell|James Waddell]] for still engaging in combat after the American Civil War was widely regarded as over]] [[File:River Mersey in 1962.jpg|thumb|The River Mersey with Liverpool on the right bank. CSS ''Shenandoah'' surrendered approximately where the ship is in mid-river. The open sea is to the top.]] [[File:Liverpool Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 374412.jpg|thumb|Liverpool Town Hall. The last act of the Civil War was Captain Waddell walking up the steps.]] Regardless of Davis's proclamation and knowing the unreliability of newspapers at the time, Captain Waddell and his crew knew returning to a U.S. port would mean facing a court sympathetic to the Union. News of [[Lincoln's assassination]] also served to further diminish any expectation for leniency. The crew predicted that surrendering to federal authorities would run the risk of being tried in a U.S. court and hanged as pirates.{{discuss|Article assessment}} Commerce raiders were not included in the reconciliation and the amnesty that Confederate soldiers were given. Perhaps more importantly, Waddell would have been aware that the U.S. government no longer had to consider the threat of Confederate retaliation against Union prisoners while it determined his crew's fate. Likely not known to Waddell was that Captain Raphael Semmes of {{ship|CSS|Alabama}} had managed to escape charges of piracy by surrendering on May 1, 1865, as an army general under [[Joseph E. Johnston]]. Semmes's former sailors surrendered as artillerymen.<ref>"The Pursuit p 123"</ref> Captain Waddell eventually decided to surrender his ship at the port of Liverpool, where Confederate Commander Bulloch was stationed.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} ===Last lowering of Confederate flag=== CSS ''Shenandoah'' sailed from off the west coast of Mexico via [[Cape Horn]] to Liverpool, a voyage of three months and over {{convert|9000|nmi|mi km}} and was all the while pursued by Union vessels. She anchored at the Mersey Bar at the mouth of the estuary awaiting a pilot to board her to guide the ship up the river and into the enclosed docks. The pilot refused to take the ship, which was not flying any flag, into Liverpool; the crew raised the [[Flags of the Confederate States of America#Second flag: the "Stainless Banner" (1863–1865)|Confederate flag]]. CSS ''Shenandoah'' sailed up the River Mersey with the flag fully flying to crowds on the riverbanks.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} The ''[[Liverpool Mercury]]'' reported the event on Tuesday, 7 November 1865: {{blockquote|THE CONFEDERATE CRUISER SHENANDOAH IN THE MERSEY. Considerable excitement was caused on 'Change yesterday morning by circulation of the report that the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah, of whose exploits amongst the American whalers in the North Pacific so much has been heard, was passed about 8 o'clock by the steamer Douglas at anchor at [[Liverpool Bar|the bar]], of Victoria Channel, apparently waiting for high water. By many the report was discredited, it being thought that those on board the Douglas were in error, and had mistaken some other craft for the celebrated ex-Confederate cruiser. At half past ten, however, all doubts on the point were set at rest, with the Shenandoah steaming up the Victoria Channel with the [[Palmetto flag]] flying from her masthead.<ref name="whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk"/>}} {{HMS|Donegal|1858|6}} happened to be anchored in mid-river between Toxteth in Liverpool and Tranmere in Birkenhead. Captain Waddell maneuvered his ship near to the British man-of-war, dropping anchor. CSS ''Shenandoah'' was surrendered by Captain Waddell to Captain Paynter of HMS ''Donegal'' on 6 November 1865. The Confederate flag was lowered again for the last time, under the watch of a [[Royal Navy]] detachment and the crew.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} CSS ''Shenandoah'' had struck her colors twice. This marked the last surrender of the American Civil War and the last official lowering of the Confederate flag. The very last act of the Civil War was Captain Waddell walking up the steps of [[Liverpool Town Hall]] with a letter to present to the mayor surrendering his ship to the UK government.<ref name="whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk"/> ''Shenandoah'' was the only Confederate warship to circumnavigate the globe.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} The United States Naval War Records published in 1894: {{blockquote|''The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of Rebellion'' November 5 – Arrived in the Mersey, off Liverpool, and on Monday, the 6th, surrendered the Shenandoah to the British nation, by letter to [[Lord John Russell]], premier of Great Britain. (signed) JAMES I WADDELL.<ref>United States Government Printing Office, 1894</ref>}} After the surrender, CSS ''Shenandoah'' was berthed in the partially constructed [[Herculaneum Dock]] awaiting her fate. Once the international legalities were settled, she was turned over to the United States government.<ref>[http://www.americancivilwar.org.uk/news_css-alabama-crew-of-the-british-isles_32.htm The confederate surrender] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928050330/http://www.americancivilwar.org.uk/news_css-alabama-crew-of-the-british-isles_32.htm |date=2006-09-28 }}</ref> ===Fate of the crew=== After the surrender of ''Shenandoah'' to the British government, a decision had to be made of what to do with the Confederate crew, knowing the consequences of piracy charges. Clearly many of the crew originated from the United Kingdom and its colonies and were at risk of being considered pirates, and three had swum ashore in the cold November waters fearing the worst.<ref>"Last Flag Down"</ref> After a full investigation by law officers of the Crown, it was decided that the officers and crew did not infringe the rules of war or the laws of nations to justify being held as prisoners, so they were unconditionally released. {{blockquote|Liverpool Mercury Thursday 9th Nov. 1865. THE SHENANDOAH. PAROLE OF THE CREW. The government have at length taken a decided step in regard to the crew of this vessel. For the last two days the authorities in Liverpool have been in communication with the Secretary of State in reference to the detention of the ship and her crew. The Government seem to have been decided as to the necessity of retaining the vessel, pending an inquiry as to the action which her commander and crew have taken during the last few months, but there seems to have been some doubt as to the proper course to adopt with reference to the men on board. On inquiry at the Custom House yesterday morning, we were informed that the authorities had not received further instructions as to the vessel or her crew. However, about 6 o'clock last night a telegram was received from Government by Captain Paynter, of her Majesty's ship Donegal, to whom the Shenandoah was surrendered, that the whole of the officers and crew, who were not British subjects were to be immediately paroled. Captain Paynter immediately proceeded to the [[Rock Ferry]] slip, and applied for a steamboat. The Rock Ferry steamer Bee was placed at his disposal by Mr. Thwaites, in which he immediately proceeded alongside the Shenandoah. Captain Paynter went on board and communicated to the officers the object of his visit. The crew were mustered on the quarterdeck by the officers of the ship, the roll book was brought out, and the names of the men called out as they occurred. As each man answered to his name he was asked what countryman he was. In not one instance did any of them acknowledge to be British citizens. Many nations were represented among them, but the majority claimed to be natives of the Southern States of America or "Southern citizens". Several of those however, who purported to be Americans, had an unmistakably Scotch accent, and seemed more likely to have hailed from the banks of the Clyde than the Mississippi. Captain Paynter informed the men that by order of the Government they were all paroled, and might proceed at once to shore. This intelligence was received by the men with every demonstration of joy, and they seemed to be delighted at the prospect of leaving the craft in which they had hoped to be able to assist the Southern Confederacy. They commenced to pack up their bedding and other articles as fast as possible, and conveyed on board the Bee, which was to take them to the landing stage. Before leaving the vessel, however, they gave three lusty cheers, for Captain Waddell, their late commander. Captain Waddell, in feeling terms, acknowledged the compliment, and said that he hoped the men would always behave themselves, as brave sailors ought to do. The men then went aboard the Bee, and were conveyed to the landing stage. This separated the Shenandoah and her crew, and the vessel now rides at anchor in the [[Sloyne]] in charge of some men from the Donegal, under the command of Lieutenant Cheek.<ref name="whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk"/>}} [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[James Iredell Waddell|James I. Waddell]] of North Carolina {{div col}} *[[First Lieutenant#U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard|First Lieutenant]] and Executive Officer, W.C. Whittle* of Virginia *[[Lieutenant#Lieutenant|Lieutenant]] John Grimball of South Carolina *Lieutenant Sidney Smith Lee* Jr. of Virginia *Lieutenant Francis Thornton Chew of Missouri *Lieutenant Dabney Minor Scales of Mississippi *[[Sailing Master#United States Navy|Sailing Master]] Irvine S. Bulloch of Georgia *[[Ensign (rank)#United States|Passed Midshipman]] Orris Applewaith Browne* of Virginia *Passed Midshipman John Thompson Mason* of Virginia *[[Surgeon]] Charles E. Lining of South Carolina *Assistant Surgeon F.J. McNulty of District of Columbia *[[Paymaster]] William Breedlove Smith of Louisiana *[[Chief Engineer]] M. O'Brien of Louisiana *[[First Assistant Engineer|Assistant Engineer]] Codd of Maryland * Assistant Marine Engineer John Hutchison of Scotland *[[Master's mate#US Navy|Master's mate]] John Minor of Virginia *Master's Mate Lodge Colton of Maryland *Master's Mate Cornelius E. Hunt of Virginia *[[Boatswain's Mate (United States Navy)|Boatswain]] George Harwood of England *Gunner Guy of England *[[Carpenter (occupation)#Types and occupations|Carpenter]] O'Shea of Ireland *[[Sailmaker]] Henry Alcott of England {{div col end}} Sometime in December 1865, crew members S.S. Lee, Orris M. Brown, John T. Mason and W.C. Whittle sailed from Liverpool to [[Buenos Aires]], via Bahia, [[Rio de Janeiro]] and [[Montevideo]]. After prospecting for a while, they went to [[Rosario]], upon [[Paraná River]], and near there bought a small place and began farming.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} As the animosity of the US government began to soften towards them, Brown and Mason returned home, followed later by Lee and Whittle.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}} On returning home, Mason took a law course at the [[University of Virginia]], graduated, and was successful at his profession. He settled in Baltimore, and married Miss Helen Jackson, of New York, daughter of the late Lieutenant Alonzo Jackson of the [[U.S. Navy]].<ref name="tribute">{{cite web|url=http://www.csa-dixie.com/liverpool_dixie/whittle.htm|title=Tribute by Capt. W. C. Whittle CSN to John T. Mason and the Shenandoah|date=October 1904|work=The Cruise of the CSS Shenandoah|publisher=Southern Crossroads|access-date=24 January 2010|archive-date=7 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207142401/http://csa-dixie.com/liverpool_dixie/whittle.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Whittle returned home to Virginia from Buenos Aires in 1867. Born in [[Norfolk, Virginia]] in 1840, an 1858 graduate of the [[U.S. Naval Academy]] and an officer in the U.S. Navy before resigning his commission to accept a commission in the [[Confederate States Navy]], Whittle was appointed captain of one of the Bay line steamers running between Baltimore, Norfolk and Portsmouth in 1868 shortly after returning to Virginia and continued in this capacity until 1890. After, he was a Superintendent for the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]] Company. In 1902, he became an organizer of the Virginia Bank and Trust Company, [[Virginia Bank and Trust Building]], and served as its vice president and one of its directors thereafter.<ref>William C. Whittle "The Cruise of the Shenandoah" published in series on March 13 and April 3, 1907 in the Confederate Column of the ''Portsmouth Star''. ''Southern Historical Society Papers''. (1907) (R.A. Brock, Ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Southern Historical Society, Vol. 35, pp. 235–237</ref> Born in 1824, Captain Waddell was a former U.S. Navy officer with decades of sailing experience and a [[Mexican–American War]] naval combat veteran before resigning his commission to accept a commission in the Confederate States Navy. He returned from England to the United States in 1875 to captain ''San Francisco'' for the Pacific Mail Company. He later took command of a force that policed the oyster fleets in the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. In 1886, Waddell died of a brain disorder and was buried at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in [[Annapolis, Maryland]].<ref>''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography''. (1996). (William S. Powell, Ed.). Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, Vol. 6, p. 106 {{ISBN|0-8078-2225-6}}</ref> Dr. Frederick J. McNulty, the ship's assistant surgeon, eventually became a resident of [[Boston, Massachusetts]], where he was first employed as Superintendent of the City Lunatic Asylum at Austin Farm and, later, opened there a private sanitarium called Pine Grove Retreat at [[Roslindale]] while continuing to reside at 706 Huntington Avenue, Boston. He became a primary historical source for chroniclers of the actions of ''Shenandoah''. Whittle recounts that McNulty, a man of irascible temper, laid the ship's barber out with a single blow when the barber shoved shaving soap in his mouth as part of the crew's hazing of the ship's officers in celebration of crossing the equator. McNulty enlisted as a surgical officer in the Chilean Navy immediately after the surrender of ''Shenandoah'' and later in 1869 accepted a commission in the Cuban Patriot Army, but was repeatedly prevented from traveling to join the Army by U.S. government authorities before settling in Boston in 1879. McNulty is variously reported to have been a native of [[Ireland]], the [[District of Columbia]] and [[Richmond, Virginia]], but was most likely Irish. He graduated from the [[Georgetown University School of Medicine]] in the District of Columbia and lived in Richmond, Virginia before resigning his commission in the medical service of the U.S. Navy to accept a commission in the Confederate States Navy. McNulty died at his home in Boston on June 14, 1897, at the age of 62.<ref>''Medical Record'' Vol. 51, No. 25, June 19, 1897, "Obituary Notes Dr. Frederick J. McNulty", p. 884 (Google digitized Dec. 11, 2013)</ref><ref>William C. Whittle "The Cruise of the Shenandoah", published in series on March 13 and April 3, 1907 in Confederate Column of the ''Portsmouth Star''. ''Southern Historical Society Papers''. (1907) (R.A. Brock, Ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Southern Historical Society, Vol. 35, p. 243, 247 (Google digitized Dec. 17, 2007).</ref><ref>James Riley "The Shenandoah" as recounted to the author by Dr. F.J. McNulty and originally published in the Atlanta ''Constitution'', November, 1893, ''Southern Historical Papers''. (1893). (R.A. Brock, Ed.). Richmond, Virginia: Southern Historical Society, Vol. 21, p. 165-176 (Google digitized January 5, 2008)</ref><ref>''Eleventh Annual Report of the State Board of Lunacy and Charity of Massachusetts''. 1890. Public Doc. No. 17. Boston, Massachusetts: Wright & Potter, p. 43 (Google digitized Dec. 2, 2008)</ref><ref>''Confederate Veteran'', Vol. 12, No. 10, October, 1904, Nashville, Tennessee, "The Cruise of the Shenandoah" pp. 489–490</ref> ==Fate== After her crew surrendered her to the British government at Liverpool on 6 November 1865, the British handed ''Shenandoah'' over to the United States government. The ship was sold to Matthew Isaac Wilson of Liverpool. In 1867 Wilson sold her to [[Majid bin Said of Zanzibar|Majid bin Said]], the first [[Sultan of Zanzibar]], who renamed her ''El Majidi'' after himself.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://americancivilwar.com/tcwn/civil_war/Navy_Ships/CSS_Shenandoah.html|title=CSS Shenandoah Confederate Navy Cruiser American Civil War}}</ref> On 15 April 1872 a hurricane hit [[Zanzibar]]. ''El Majidi'' was one of six ships owned by [[Seyed Burgash]] that were blown ashore and wrecked.<ref>"Great Britain & Zanzibar" British and Foreign State Papers Page 551</ref> Her crew were rescued.<ref name=LM220572>{{Cite news |title=The Hurricane at Zanzibar |newspaper=Leeds Mercury |location=Leeds |date=22 May 1872 |issue=10644 }}</ref> She was refloated on 7 July with assistance from {{HMS|Wolverine|1863|6}}.<ref name=Times091272>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=A Zanibar War Steamer |date=9 December 1872 |issue=27555 |page=6 |column=B }}</ref> After temporary repairs she sailed on 10 September 1872 from Zanzibar to Bombay with 130 passengers and crew. She developed holes and took on water, sinking a few days later.<ref name="wrecksite.eu"/> ''El Majidi'' was subsequently repaired. She foundered in the [[Gulf of Aden]] off [[Socotra]], [[Aden Governorate]] in November 1879. There were a few survivors.<ref name=DC181179>{{Cite news |title=Serious Shipping Disasters |newspaper=Dundee Courier |location=Dundee |date=18 November 1879 |issue=8214 }}</ref><ref name=LM181179>{{Cite news |title=Shipping |newspaper=Liverpool Mercury |location=Liverpool |date=18 November 1879 |issue=9937 }}</ref> She was on a voyage from Zanzibar to [[Bombay]], [[British Raj|India]], where she was to undergo repairs.<ref name=NC211179>{{Cite news |title=Disasters at Sea |newspaper=Newcastle Courant |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |date=21 November 1879 |issue=10690 }}</ref> ==Legacy== [[File:CSS Shenandoah-art.jpg|thumb|240px|19th-century artwork depicting ''Shenandoah'' under sail]] ''Shenandoah'' had remained at sea for 12 months and 17 days, traversed 58,000 miles (carrying the Confederate flag around the globe for the only time) and sank or captured 38 ships, mostly whalers, all of them American civilian merchant vessels. Waddell took close to one thousand prisoners without a single war casualty among his crew; two men died of disease. The ship was never involved in conflict against any [[Union Navy|Union Naval]] vessel.<ref>Baldwin, p. 302</ref> The Confederate cruiser claimed more than 20 prizes valued at nearly $1,400,000 ({{Inflation|US|1400000|1865|fmt=eq|r=-5}}).<ref>Baldwin, 225</ref> In an important development in international law, the U.S. government pursued claims (collectively called the [[Alabama Claims]]) against the British government and, following a court of arbitration, won heavy damages. ===Battle ensign=== [[File:Naval ensign of the Confederate States of America (1863-1865).svg|thumb|240px|The [[Flags of the Confederate States of America#Naval flags|Second Confederate Navy Ensign]], 1863–1865 ([http://moc.pastperfect-online.com/39589cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=B4924484-5EC2-499F-A16A-627597799300;type=101 MOC Catalog# 0985.03.00194])]] The [[battle ensign]] of CSS ''Shenandoah'' is unique amongst the flags of the Confederate States of America as it was the only Confederate flag to circumnavigate the Earth during the Confederacy, and it was the last Confederate flag to be lowered by a combatant unit in the Civil War (in mid-river on the River Mersey at Liverpool, UK, on November 6, 1865).<ref>Baldwin, 319</ref> ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s battle ensign has been in the [[Museum of the Confederacy]]'s collection since 1907 and is currently on display. Lieutenant Dabney [Minor] Scales CSN, gave the flag to a cousin, Eliza Hull Maury, for safekeeping. Eliza Hull Maury was a daughter of, and Richard Launcelot Maury was the eldest son of, Commodore [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]]. Colonel [[Richard Launcelot Maury]] CSA, Eliza's brother, brought the flag from England in 1873, and donated it to the museum in 1907. The flag itself measures {{convert|88|x|136|in|cm|abbr=out}}.<ref name="MOC">{{cite web|url=http://www.moc.org/site/DocServer/Flag_Table_for_Website.pdf?docID=5741|title=0985.03.0194|year=2010|work=Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) Collections|publisher=Museum of the Confederacy|pages=Accession# 0985.03.0194|access-date=23 January 2010|location=Richmond, Virginia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703055335/http://www.moc.org/site/DocServer/Flag_Table_for_Website.pdf?docID=5741|archive-date=3 July 2010}}</ref><ref>source: Robert F. Hancock, Director of Collections & Senior Curator, The Museum of the Confederacy</ref> From the Southern Historical Society Papers: {{blockquote|The flag of the Shenandoah, reverently preserved by the late Colonel Richard Launcelot Maury, C. S. A., son of Commissioner [[Matthew Fontaine Maury]], was recently deposited with the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, and is preserved in the Museum Building at Richmond, Va.—Ed.<ref>[[s:Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 35.djvu/272|Southern Historical Society Papers volume 35]]</ref>}} ==See also== * [[Lost Empire (Cussler novel)|''Lost Empire'' (Cussler novel)]] ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ===Bibliography=== * Baldwin, John, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7kS5seueGGgC&pg=PA49 Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship]'', Crown Publishers, 2007, {{ISBN|5-557-76085-7}}, Random House, Incorporated, 2007, {{ISBN|0-7393-2718-6}} * Chaffin, Tom, ''Sea of Gray: The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah'', Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. {{ISBN|0-8090-9511-4}} * Schooler, Lynn, ''The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the CSS ''Shenandoah'' and the True Conclusion of the Civil War'', HarperCollins, 2005. {{ISBN|0-06-052333-6}} * Silkenat, David. ''Raising the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. {{ISBN|978-1-4696-4972-6}}. * United States Government Printing Office, ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion'', United States Naval War Records Office, United States Office of Naval Records and Library, 1894 {{DANFS}} ==External links== {{Commons category|Shenandoah (ship, 1863)|CSS Shenandoah}} * [https://archive.org/details/officialrecords00librgoog/page/n817 <!-- pg=769 --> Official records of the Union and Confederate navies in the war of the rebellion] By United States. Navy Dept, Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 1894–1922. * [http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/MaraudersCivilWar/CSSShenandoah.html Marauders of the Sea, Confederate Merchant Raiders During the American Civil War CSS Shenandoah. 1864–1865. Captain James I. Waddell] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=cgsTAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA72 Correspondence Respecting the Shenandoah] Presented to both houses of Parliament, London, 1866 pp. 67–181 * [http://purl.lib.ua.edu/18376 Edwin H. Abbott Papers, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University of Alabama] {{CSN Cruisers}} {{1865 shipwrecks}} {{1872 shipwrecks}} {{1879 shipwrecks}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Shenandoah, Css}} [[Category:1863 ships]] [[Category:1863 establishments in Scotland]] [[Category:Auxiliary steamers]] [[Category:Commerce raiders]] [[Category:Cruisers of the Confederate States Navy]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1872]] [[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Naval ships of Zanzibar]] [[Category:Raids of the American Civil War]] [[Category:Ships built in Glasgow]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in November 1879]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:'
(
edit
)
Template:1865 shipwrecks
(
edit
)
Template:1872 shipwrecks
(
edit
)
Template:1879 shipwrecks
(
edit
)
Template:About
(
edit
)
Template:Blockquote
(
edit
)
Template:CSN Cruisers
(
edit
)
Template:Citation needed
(
edit
)
Template:Cite book
(
edit
)
Template:Cite news
(
edit
)
Template:Cite newspaper The Times
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:Comma separated entries
(
edit
)
Template:Commons category
(
edit
)
Template:Convert
(
edit
)
Template:Coord
(
edit
)
Template:DANFS
(
edit
)
Template:Discuss
(
edit
)
Template:Div col
(
edit
)
Template:Div col end
(
edit
)
Template:Error
(
edit
)
Template:Further
(
edit
)
Template:HMS
(
edit
)
Template:ISBN
(
edit
)
Template:Inflation
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox ship begin
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox ship career
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox ship characteristics
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox ship image
(
edit
)
Template:Main other
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Ship
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Sister project
(
edit
)
Template:Use dmy dates
(
edit
)
Template:Webarchive
(
edit
)