James Bulloch

Ships at Sea - by Nigel A.  JAMES

 Strife on the Ocean Wave

During the American civil war, British companies were allowed to provide arms to both the north and the south, but, when it came to shipping, that was a different matter.  British companies were only allowed to supply unarmed ships to the confederates, the ships were then armed elsewhere (mostly always by British companies, too), and, so it was that the rules were nicely avoided by the British suppliers and the confederates. But, one ship threatened to scuttle this delicate balance!

The Alabama, which, at the time, was under construction in a Birkenhead shipyard, caught the attention of the Northern authorities who maintained that the ship was “more fitted out than that was allowed”.  They subsequently petitioned the British government to impound the ship. But, neither the Northern authorities nor the British government had reckoned with a certain Mr. James Bulloch, the confederate’s agent in the UK for the acquiring of shipping.  He got wind of what was about to happen and took immediate action!

And he was just in time. That very same afternoon, the Alabama, in great festive mood and complete with a brass band and well dressed ladies left port for what was described as “sea trials”.  However, upon arriving at Holyhead, the band and the ladies were put ashore and the ship sped out into the Atlantic, evaded the USS Tuscarora which was waiting for her, and set course for the Azores.  There she was fitted out with guns and ammunition which had been delivered by British merchant ships.

In the course of her action packed life, the Alabama captured and destroyed ten Union ships in mid-Atlantic, she sank the USS Hatteras in an amazingly brief encounter which only lasted thirteen minutes, and then, on a round-the-world jaunt, she captured eighty-four merchant ships.  But, then she met her match.

She was finally defeated and sunk off Cherbourg in eighteen-sixty-four.  Most of the crew and the captain were rescued by cheering spectators, amongst whom was the captain of a British yacht. But, that wasn’t the end of the story.

The British eventually had to fork-out 15,5 million dollars in gold for compensation. Much damage had been caused, and many people had lost their lives due to British incompetence.  A very big bill for letting the Alabama go.

The Greening of Peace - by Nigel A  JAMES