Return
to Online Library listing
Return
to Online Library listing
CSS Shenandoah, a 1160-ton screw steam cruiser, was launched at Glasgow, Scotland, in August 1863 as the civilian steamer Sea King. After the Confederate Navy secretly purchased her, she put to sea in October 1864, under the cover story that she was headed for India on a commercial voyage. Sea King rendezvoused at sea off Madeira with another ship, which brought Confederate Navy officers, some crew members, heavy guns and other equipment needed to refit her as a warship. This work was completed at sea under the supervision of C.S. Navy First Lieutenant (later Commander) James Iredell Waddell, who became the cruiser's first Commanding Officer when she was commissioned as CSS Shenandoah on 19 October.
Waddell took his ship through the south Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean, capturing nine U.S. flag merchant vessels between late October and the end of 1864. All but two of these were sunk or burned. In late January 1865, Shenandoah arrived at Melbourne, Australia, where she was able to receive necessary repairs and provisions, as well as adding more than forty "stowaways" to her very short-handed crew. Following three weeks in port, the cruiser put to sea, initially planning to attack the American south Pacific whaling fleet.
However, discovering that his intended targets had been warned and dispersed, Waddell set off for the north Pacific. He stopped in the Eastern Carolines at the beginning of April, seizing four Union merchantmen there and using their supplies to stock up for further operations. While Shenandoah cruised northwards in April and May, the Confederacy collapsed, but this news would spread very slowly through the distant Pacific. Following a month in the Sea of Okhotsk that yielded one prize and considerable experience in ice navigation, she moved on to the Bering Sea. There, between 22 and 28 June 1865 the now-stateless warship captured two-dozen vessels, destroying all but a few. Soon afterwards, Waddell started a slow voyage towards San Francisco, California, which he believed would be weakly defended against his cruiser's guns.
Though Shenandoah's late June assault on the whaling fleet was accompanied by many rumors of the Civil War's end, she did not receive a firm report until 2 August 1865, when she encountered an English sailing ship that had left San Francisco less than two weeks before. Waddell then disarmed his ship and set sail for England. Shenandoah rounded Cape Horn in mid-September and arrived at Liverpool in early November, becoming the only Confederate Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe. There she hauled down the Confederate Ensign and was turned over to the Royal Navy. In 1866 the ship was sold to the Sultan of Zanzibar and renamed El Majidi. She was variously reported lost at sea in September 1872 or in 1879.
This page features all the views we have related to CSS Shenandoah (1864-1865).
For pictures of officers of CSS Shenandoah, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
|
Photo #: NH 85964 CSS Shenandoah (1864-1865) Hauled out for repairs at the Williamstown Dockyard, Melbourne, Australia, in February 1865. Note Confederate flag (possibly retouched) flying from her mizzen gaff, and fresh caulking between her planks. Courtesy of Martin Holbrook, 1977. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 42279 CSS Shenandoah (1864-1865) Painting depicting the Confederate cruiser in the Arctic ice, circa June 1865. This image has been credited to the "Illustrated London News", though it appears to be a painting on canvas and not a line engraving. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 133KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 42280 CSS Shenandoah (1864-1865) Nineteenth Century photographic reproduction of an artwork, depicting the ship under sail. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 435 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 42282 CSS Shenandoah (1864-1865) Pencil sketch of the ship, from the inside cover of a notebook kept by her Commanding Officer, James I. Waddell. The original artwork is at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 560 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 50454-KN (color) "Destruction of Whale Ships off Cape Thaddeus Arctic Ocean June 23 1865 by the Conft Stmr Shenandoah" Colored lithograph of an artwork by B. Russell, depicting CSS Shenandoah's assault on the U.S. whale ships in the Bering Sea area. Individual items shown are (from left to right): brig Susan Abigail (burning); ship Euphrates (burning--distant); CSS Shenandoah; ship Jerah Swift (burning--distant); ship William Thompson (burning--distant); ship Sophia Thornton (burning); whaleboat going to warn other whalers (very distant); ship Milo which carried the destroyed vessels' crews to San Francisco; ice in the distance. Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 59499 Former Confederate Naval Officers At Leamington Spa, England, Autumn 1865, following the return of CSS Shenandoah. Those present include former Assistant Surgeon Edwin G. Booth (seated), and (standing, left to right): former Acting Master Irvine S. Bulloch (of CSS Shenandoah); former Passed Assistant Surgeon Bennett W. Green; former First Lieutenant William H. Murdaugh; and former Passed Assistant Surgeon Charles E. Lining (of CSS Shenandoah). Donation of Hugh S. Cumming, Jr. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 111KB; 600 x 765 pixels |
 |
|
Photo #: NH 42281 Saluting Gun One of an identical pair from the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah (1864-1865). The original artifact is at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, Maryland. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
|
The University, Glasgow, Scotland, has a fine painting of
the steamship Sea King, which became CSS Shenandoah. This artwork shows Sea King's starboard broadside aspect, with sails raised (the royals on all three masts appear to be in the process of being reefed), stunsails rigged on the foremast, and smoke coming from the smokestack. It was reportedly painted for her builders, A. Stephen & Sons, Govan, Glasgow. For additional information on this item, the availability of reproductions and usage rights, contact the Archivist, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 BQQ Scotland. The University of Glasgow also has information on its collections available on its WEB Site, which can be readily located using standard Internet search engines. |
For pictures of officers of CSS Shenandoah, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.Page made 24 February 2002