CSS Alabama — Confederate Commerce Raider Model, Handcrafted Wood | Admiral Line
CSS Alabama — Confederate Commerce Raider Model, Handcrafted Wood | Admiral Line
Model details
- Materials
- Mahogany, Western red cedar, Rosewood, Brass, Linen sails
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T290
The most successful commerce raider in naval history, built plank on frame in hardwood and delivered ready to display.
A hybrid ship — full sailing rig plus a screw propeller she could lift clear of the water to cut drag. Our model carries both: the barque rig above, the steam-era hull below.
Construction
- Plank-on-frame hull in western red cedar, rosewood and mahogany
- Hand-knotted rigging across three masts
- Hand-stitched linen sails
- Deck detail: pivot guns, ship's boats, funnel, wheel and fittings
- Metal anchors, wooden rudder
- Solid wood base and engraved brass nameplate
History
Built in secret at Birkenhead, England in 1862 and armed at sea to skirt British neutrality, Alabama spent two years under Raphael Semmes hunting Union merchant shipping from the Atlantic to the South China Sea. She took 65 prizes without ever entering a Confederate port. On 19 June 1864 the USS Kearsarge caught her off Cherbourg and sank her in under an hour. Her wreck was located in 1984 and remains a protected site.