If ever there was a company that didn’t care how its merchandise was being used it was the shipbuilder John Laird, Sons and Company of Birkenhead, England. Whether it ships were being used to push and protect the East India company’s lucrative opium trade in China, or were being used to put down liberal rebellions in Mexico, the warships they produced could get your dirty deeds done dirt cheap.1 One of the company’s most controversial customers was none other than the Confederate States of America. Having seceded from the Union of the United States in April of 1861 the rebellious pariah state lacked any real industry and was in dire need of ships that could break the Union Blockade’s strangle hold on its port cities. Operating in England, Confederate…show more content… Unfortunately the only dry docks in the city belonged to the French Navy and would require the permission of Emperor Napoleon III to use them.13 The situation was made worse by the fact that Union spies had discovered Alabama presence in Cherbourg and alerted federal warships in the area. The first sail to appear on the horizon was that of the USS Kearsarge. Unable to gain permission to use the dry docks, Semmes faced a difficult choice. The longer he remained at Cherbourg, the greater the Union opposition would likely become and more likely that the French would prevent his departure. With the odds stacked against him, Semmes issued a formal challenge to the Captain Kearsarge, and was escorted out of the harbor by the French frigate Couronne and the British yacht Deerhound.14 Battered from its long cruise and with its store of gunpowder in poor condition, Alabama entered the battle at a disadvantage. In the fight that ensued, Alabama hit the Union vessel several times but due to the condition of its powder several shells, including one that hit Kearsarge's sternpost, failed to detonate.15 Kearsarge fared better as its rounds hit with telling effect. An hour after the battle began; Kearsarge's guns had reduced the Confederacy's greatest raider to a wreck. With his ship sinking, Semmes struck his colors abandoned ship. Sending over boats, Kearsarge managed to rescue much of Alabama's crew, while Semmes and some of his fellow officers escaped aboard the Deerhound to
