Sea Encounter - by Nigel A. JAMES
Mr. James Bulloch and The Alabama!
It was the American civil War.
British companies were legally delivering arms to both the North and
the South. It was very good business. But, things were different
concerning shipping. Because, legally speaking, there were two kinds
of ships. Armed and unarmed. But, because of a treaty between
Washington and London, the British were only allowed to provide armed
ships to the North, whereas, only unarmed vessels to The South
were permitted. And, the rules were rigorously applied and
controlled. But, where there's a will there's a way, and some people
were expert at bending the rules.
Simply put, many ships that left
Britain unarmed arrived fully armed in the South! And, it wasn't
difficult. On the way to the south, the ships simply put into
foreign ports where the same companies that had built the ships
completed their arming! But, of course, The North didn't like this.
Too many ships were getting through and they were dangerous. But,
there was one ship that nearly didn't succeed. The Alabama.
Nearing completion in a
Birkenhead* shipyard, The Alabama caught the eye of the US
Northern authorities. They maintained that the ship had been
more fitted out than allowed. They then petitioned the British
government to impound the ship, but, being Friday, everything
had to wait until Monday! But, neither the US Northern authorities,
nor the British government had reckoned with a certain Mr. James
Bulloch, the Confederate's agent in Britain for the acquiring
of shipping! He got wind of events and took immediate action.
And, he was just in time. The
very next day, being Saturday, The Alabama, in great festive mood and
covered in bunting, and complete with a brass band and ladies
in finery, left port for what was described as “sea trials”.
However, upon arriving in Holyhead in North Wales, she put the
band and the ladies ashore and sped out to sea. And there,
evading the USS Tuscarora which had been sent to intercept
her, set course for the Azores. There she was fitted out with
guns and ammunition which had been delivered by the Birkenhead
shipyard that had built her!
And, in the course of her action
packed life, The Alabama captured and destroyed 10 union ships in
Mid-Atlantic. She sank the USS Hatteras in an amazingly brief
13 minute encounter. And then, on a round-the-world jaunt,
she captured 84 merchant ships. But, then she met her match!
She was finally defeated
and sunk just off Cherbourg in 1864. Most of the crew and the
captain were rescued by cheering spectators, amongst whom being the
captain of a British yacht. But, that wasn't the end of the story.
Eventually, the British had to
fork-out 15.5 million dollars in gold for compensation. Much
damage had been caused by their negligence, and many lives had been
lost due to incompetence. A very big bill for a weekend
mistake!
*Birkenhead – Hafenstadt in
Nord England
Selected Vocabulary
acquiring - Ankaufen
amazingly – erstaunlich
bunting – Fahnentuchen
defeated – besiegt
encounter
– Begegnung
evading
- ausweichen
fitted out – aus
gemustert
fork-out – bezahlen
got wind of (to get wind of
something) – etwas zu erfahren
impound - beschlagnahmen
incompetence –
Unfähigkeit
intercept - abfangen
jaunt - Ausflug
maintain – behaupten
met her match (to meet her
match) – gleich gestellte
Gegner treffen
put ashore – an Land
bringen
put into (port) –
anlaufen
rigorously – sehr streng
shipyard – Werft
whereas - wo
als
Diarikom
is sponsored by Mag. Karl Brieber
Wirtschaftstreuhänder
– Steuerberater – Unternehmensberater
..
