Английская Википедия:Battle of Cherbourg (1864)

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The Battle of Cherbourg, or sometimes the Battle off Cherbourg or the Sinking of CSS Alabama, was a single-ship action fought during the American Civil War between the United States Navy warship, Шаблон:USS, and the Confederate States Navy warship, Шаблон:Ship, on June 19, 1864, off Cherbourg, France.

Background

After five successful commerce raiding missions in the Atlantic Ocean, Шаблон:Ship put into Cherbourg Harbor on June 11, 1864. The Confederate States sloop-of-war was commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, formerly of Шаблон:Ship. It was Captain Semmes' intention to drydock his ship and receive repairs at the French port. After 22 months of sailing, the Alabama boilers were burned out; machinery needed repairs; loose at every joint and her copper bottom was in rolls.[1]Шаблон:Primary source inline The Confederate Navy vessel was crewed by about 149 men and armed with six Шаблон:Convert cannon, mounted broadside, three guns per side; two heavy pivot guns mounted on the centerline and able to fire to either side; one Шаблон:Convert, Шаблон:Convert smoothbore gun; and one Шаблон:Convert, Шаблон:Convert rifled gun. Alabama had been pursued for two years by the screw sloop-of-war Шаблон:USS, under Captain John Winslow. Kearsarge was armed with two Шаблон:Convert smoothbore Dahlgren guns which fired about 166 pounds of solid shot, four 32-pound guns, and one 30-pounder Parrott rifle. She was crewed by around 163 sailors and officers.

Kearsarge had a form of makeshift armor-cladding, medium-weight chain cable triced in tiers along her port and starboard midsections, basically acting as the equivalent of chain mail for vulnerable sections of her hull, where shot could potentially penetrate and hit her boilers or steam engine. This armor protection potentially gave the Union warship a definitive advantage over the Confederate raider; however, the armor was only capable of stopping shots from AlabamaШаблон:'s lighter 32-pound balls; either of her heavier guns could easily penetrate such lightweight protection. In the event, it was a moot point, as Alabama only managed to score two hits in this area, both of which were well above the waterline and the vulnerable engineering areas, and would have done little lasting damage even if they had successfully penetrated the hull.

On June 14, Kearsarge finally caught up with Alabama as she was receiving repairs. Kearsarge did not attack, as Alabama was in a neutral port; instead, she waited, initiating a blockade of CSS Alabama in Cherbourg. Union Captain Winslow telegraphed Шаблон:USS to request her assistance, but the fighting began before she could arrive. Confederate Captain Semmes used the time to drill his men for the coming battle. On June 19, Alabama, with nowhere else to go, ran up the Stars and Bars and exited the harbor to attack Kearsarge. She was escorted by the French Navy ironclad Шаблон:Ship,[2] whose mission was to ensure that the ensuing battle occurred outside the French harbor.

Battle

Файл:Chart of Battle Between the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge 1864.jpg
Chart of Battle Between the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge 1864
Файл:Kearsarge and Alabama.jpg
Battle of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama (1887 lithograph)
Файл:Sinking of the CSS Alabama 1864.jpg
Sinking of the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg France 1864
Файл:KEARSARGsternpostBW.png
The sternpost of USS Kearsarge, with a 100-pound round embedded within it

Captain Winslow spotted the departing Confederate raider, so he turned his ship around to take the impending battle out of French territorial waters. Once out, Kearsarge turned about again, hoisted the United States Navy Jack, and lined up for a broadside. Captain Winslow ordered his gunners to hold their fire until the range closed. Alabama fired the first shots from the 100-pound pivot gun.[1] They are not known to have hit. Eventually the range closed to within Шаблон:Convert and Kearsarge fired her first shot. The two warships maneuvered on opposite courses throughout the battle. Kearsarge and Alabama made seven spiraling circles around each other, moving southwest in a Шаблон:Convert current. Both Captain Semmes and Captain Winslow attempted to cross each other's bow, hoping to inflict heavy raking fire. Three of the Kearsarge 11-inch shells entered the Alabama's 8-inch gun port.[1] The Alabama gunpowder was damaged and defective; her guns gave out a dull report with thick and heavy vapor while the Kearsarge battery was clear and sharp with powder burning like thin vapor.[1]Шаблон:Primary source inline

The battle continued in this manner for several minutes; in the meantime, on the French coast, hundreds watched the battle. KearsargeШаблон:'s armor cladding sustained two hits during the engagement.Шаблон:Citation needed The first shell, a 32-pounder, struck the starboard gangway, cutting part of the chain armor and denting the wooden planking underneath.[3] The second shot was again a 32-pounder that exploded and broke a link of the chain. Both hits struck the chain five feet above the waterline and therefore did not threaten the boilers or machinery. The gunnery of Kearsarge was reportedly more accurate than that of the Confederates. She fired slowly with well-aimed shots, while Alabama fired rapidly. Alabama fired a total of over 370 rounds during the fighting; it is not known how many Kearsarge fired, but it is known that she fired many fewer than the Confederates did. Eventually, after just over an hour of exchanging artillery fire, Alabama had received shot-holes beneath the waterline from KearsargeШаблон:'s Dahlgren guns and began to sink. Captain Semmes struck the Confederate colors, but still Kearsarge continued firing until a white flag was seen, raised by one of the Confederate sailors with his hand. The battle was over, so Captain Semmes sent his remaining dinghy to Captain Winslow, to ask for aid.Шаблон:Citation needed

During the battle, 40 Confederate sailors were casualties (19 killed in action or drowned and 21 wounded). Another seventy or so were picked up by Kearsarge. Thirty or so were rescued by Deerhound, a British yacht, which Captain Winslow asked to help evacuate AlabamaШаблон:'s crew, and three French pilot boats. Captain Semmes and fourteen of his officers were among the sailors rescued by Deerhound. Instead of delivering the captured Confederates to Kearsarge, Deerhound set a course for Southampton, thus enabling Captain Semmes' escape. This act angered the Kearsarge crew, who begged their captain to allow them to open fire on the British yacht. Captain Winslow would not allow this, so the Confederates got away and avoided imprisonment. Three men were wounded aboard Kearsarge, one of whom died the following day.[4]

Aftermath

In art

For many years after the battle, Confederate Captain Semmes stated that he would never have chosen to test Kearsarge had he known of her armor-clad protection. Alabama had destroyed or captured dozens of Union merchant vessels during her Atlantic cruises, and when word of AlabamaШаблон:'s sinking reached the northeastern United States, many Northerners were joyful. Édouard Manet produced two paintings of the fight, The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama, now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Kearsarge at Boulogne, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. American marine artist Xanthus Smith painted six versions of the naval battle. The most famous of these, a massive work exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition, is in the collection of the Union League of Philadelphia.

The 37th album of Les Tuniques Bleues, titled Duel dans la Manche ("Duel in the Channel"), takes place during the Battle of Cherbourg, on USS Kearsarge.[5]

The battle was commemorated in the sea shanty "Roll, Alabama, Roll".

Wreck of Alabama

In November 1984, the Шаблон:Ship located the wreck of Alabama at a depth of Шаблон:Convert, a little under Шаблон:Convert north of the western approaches of Cherbourg roads (Шаблон:Coord).[6] Captain Max Guerout later confirmed that the wreck was that of Alabama.

In 1988, a nonprofit organisation named the CSS Alabama Association[7] was created to conduct a scientific survey of the wreck. Although it now lies in French territorial waters, the U.S. government claimed possession on the grounds that the location where Alabama had struck to Kearsarge had not been within French territorial waters at the time of the battle. On 3 October 1989, France and the United States signed an agreement recognising the wreck as a common historic heritage for both nations and established a joint scientific team for its exploration.

On 23 March 1995, the CSS Alabama Association and the Naval History & Heritage Command signed an agreement to accredit the association for the archeological survey of Alabama. In 2002, over 300 samples were recovered, including the ship's bell, guns, part of the ship's structure, furniture, and tableware. In 2004, a human jaw was found under a gun and was subsequently buried in Mobile, Alabama.

See also

Gallery

Notes

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References

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Шаблон:Coord

Шаблон:Expeditionary Raids of the CSS Alabama

Шаблон:Authority control

Партнерские ресурсы
Криптовалюты
Магазины
Хостинг
Разное

  1. ↑ 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег <ref>; для сносок kell не указан текст
  2. ↑ Combat naval à Cherbourg (1864), Wikimanche
  3. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  4. ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb
  5. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  6. ↑ Épave de l'Alabama, Cherbourg 1864, Centre européen de recherches et d'études sous-marines
  7. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  8. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
  9. ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
  10. ↑ Шаблон:Cite web
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