Waving handkerchiefs and speeding cabs welcome raider Alabama into Table Bay
The CSS (confederate steam ship) Alabama, a screw sloop of war, was described as “a particularly ruthless predator — no ship was safe from her.
But her reputation did not prevent Sir Philip Wodehouse, governor of the Cape, from travelling to Simon’s Town after accepting Captain Raphael Semmes’s invitation to a luncheon aboard the ship.
The book Service Afloat or the Remarkable Career of the Confederate Cruisers Sumter and Alabama During the War Between the States by Admiral Raphael Semmes was published by Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, Fleet Street London in 1887.
It relates the fascinating story of a raider ship, the Alabama.
According to South African History Online, during the American civil war the navy of southern states was no match for that of the northern states.
A direct confrontation in conventional sea battles was not feasible, so the south opted for the strategy of sinking and capturing northern ships. Vessels that attacked civilian shipping were called raiders or “state-sanctioned pirates”. They roamed the seas with the aim of destroying as many Union ships as they could.
By the time the Alabama arrived in Cape Town it had already sunk more than 50 Union ships and had become a famous raider.
When the Argus of August 6 1863 reported that Semmes had notified the governor he had to put in at Saldanha Bay there was intense excitement. It was said Cape Town “was more than dull at the time and the news of the Alabama caused no little excitement, and the port was all astir, full of life and motion”.
The paper reported that “knots of citizens were collected at the corner of every street; business was almost, if not entirely suspended”.
There was more excitement when news was received that the Alabama was coming into Table Bay and was expected that afternoon.
Crowds ran up Lion’s Hill (Lion’s Head) and Kloof Road. Cab drivers were told to drive as fast as possible.
According to the Argus, when the crown of the hill was reached, the cabs set off at breakneck speed. And there lay the Alabama, 50 yards from the Union vessel, the Sea Bride.
The Argus reported that the way the Alabama — “that fine saucy, rakish craft” — was handled was worth riding 100 miles to see. Once Semmes took possession of the Sea Bride, he steamed into port to a rousing welcome.
The heights overlooking Table Bay were crowded with people, the road to Green Point was lined with cabs, women were waving handkerchiefs out of the open windows of their villas and the roofs of houses overlooking Table Bay accommodated sightseers.
The Alabama was surrounded by dingies, wherries, cargo boats and gigs.
As the Argus reported: “Nearly all Cape Town was afloat that evening” when three hearty cheers were given for Semmes and his gallant privateer.
The Alabama returned to the Cape in March 1864 and inspired the still popular Cape Malay folksong Daar Kom die Alabama.
The Alabama was sunk on June 19 1864 in the Battle of Cherbourg in the English Channel by the USS Kearsage commanded by Captain John Winslow.
A DIRECT CONFRONTATION WAS NOT FEASIBLE, SO THE SOUTH OPTED TO SINK AND CAPTURE SHIPS