Shenandoah CSS

Ship Details

Rig

American Confederate raider

Built

1863

Tonnage

1160

Demise

Beached at Zanzibar in 1872

Description

CSS Shenandoah, formerly Sea King, was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full-rigged sailing ship with auxiliary steam power chiefly known for her adventures under Lieutenant Commander James Waddell as part of the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.[3]

The Shenandoah was originally a British merchant vessel launched as Sea King on August 17, 1863, but was later re-purposed as one of the most feared commerce raiders in the Confederate Navy. During a period of ​12 1⁄2 months from 1864 to 1865, the ship undertook commerce raiding around the world in an effort to disrupt the Union economy, resulting in the capture and sinking or bonding of thirty-eight merchant vessels, mostly New Bedford whale ships. She finally surrendered on the River Mersey, Liverpool, England, on November 6, 1865, six months after the war had ended. Her flag was the last sovereign Confederate flag to be officially furled. The 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

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