Surface Raider III.

This is coolbert:

From the American Civil War, the naval battle between the surface raider CSS Alabama and USS Kearsarge has become the stuff of legend.

A clean fight between matched opponents, mano-a-mano combat at sea. NO destruction of civilian property of killing of non-combatants.

[very reminiscent of the World War Two [WW2] battle between the Sydney and Kormoran!]

The Alabama, cornered by the Kearsarge in the French port of Cherbourg, had no recourse but either to be interred for the duration of the war or fight it out!

A naval battle witnessed by thousands of French civilians ashore, AND MANY MORE WHO FOLLOWED THE ALABAMA OUT TO SEA ON RENTED EXCURSION VESSELS!!

"CSS Alabama was a screw [steam-powered, propeller driven] sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, England in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company of Birkenhead. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career."

The Alabama, a Confederate surface raider which roamed the oceans OF THE WORLD, preying upon Yankee merchant shipping. Ranged the waters of the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, as far east as the Dutch Indies.

Waters to include:

* "the Azores"

* "eastern seaboard of the U.S."

* "the Caribbean"

* "the Brazilian coast"

* "South Africa"

* "the Indian Ocean"

* "South China Sea"

* Bay of Bengal,

"All told, the Alabama sunk 62 vessels, mostly merchant ships."

"The C.S.S. Alabama was the most successful ship to ever wage war on the commerce of a great commercial people."

France during the American Civil War was very favorably disposed toward the Confederacy. Napoleon the Third was a ruler that hated the United States and all things American. At one time the French had contemplated entering the War of Secession on the sides of the rebels, sending troops to the rebellious southern states!!

The people of Cherbourg in particular saw the Confederate sailors as brave men that went to their defeat and death with panache'. American and French scuba divers to this day visit the wreck of the Alabama, recovering valuable artifacts!

pa·nache - –noun 1. a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair"

coolbert.