CSS ''Alabama''s Indian Ocean Expeditionary Raid commenced shortly after the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...

ship left the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is ...

and cruised across the Indian Ocean ultimately exiting via the

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the western portion ...

into the Java Sea from where she proceeded through the

Karimata Strait The Karimata Strait (alternatively, Carimata or Caramata; id, Selat Karimata) is a wide strait that connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, separating the Indonesian islands of Belitung to the west and Borneo (Kalimantan) to the east. ...

past the west coast of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

before turning west towards

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. The raid lasted from about the end of September 1863 to the end of November 1863. The primary area of operation during this expeditionary raid, was the central Indian Ocean, across the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...

, steaming east toward the Dutch East Indies.

Raid overview

CSS ''Alabama'' worked its way east from the Cape of Good Hope through rough weather, passing the islands of St. Peter Island and St. Paul Island in the Indian Ocean, which are about halfway to the Strait of Sunda. ''Alabama'' crossed the

and conferred with the captain of an English

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, learning that USS ''Wyoming'', a Union steamer, was patrolling in the Strait of Sunda with a

tender Tender may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Illegal Tender'' (2007), a film directed by Franc. Reyes * ''Tender'' (2012), a short film by Liz Tomkins * ''Tender'' (2019), a short film by Darryl Jones and Anthony Lucido * ''Tender'' (2019), a sh ...

, and anchored nightly at Krakatoa Island. Many of the ships intercepted during this period were English or Dutch ships. However, on November 6, ''Alabama''s captain, Semmes, learned from an English ship out of

Foochow Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

that ''Winged Racer'', escorted by USS ''Wyoming'' was coming out of the strait. ''Alabama'' pursued and overhauled two English ships before coming upon ''Amanda'', out of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, laden with sugar and hemp. Semmes and crew set ''Amanda'' alight by 10:00 pm. Getting underway for the Strait of Sunda, ''Alabama'' sailed past Keyser Island, Beezee island and Sowbooks Island, and then passed through the strait, on to Thwart-the-Way Island and Stroom Rock, not finding USS ''Wyoming''. However, on November 8, amidst a rain squall, ''Alabama'' sighted sail and chased down the unescorted ''Winged Racer''. The crew and master were put in boats to row ashore to nearby land at North Island, and ''Winged Racer'' was burnt. CSS ''Alabama'' then proceeded toward the China Sea, passing Sumatra and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, and arrived in Gasper Strait. Around daylight, new sail was sighted, and a

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

headed toward ''Alabama'' only to find the Confederate flag unfurled when Captain Semmes hoisted a change of colors. The clipper added topsails, and opened chase. The clipper ''Contest'' encountered a slack in the wind during the midday qualms, which allowed ''Alabama'' to bring the ship within gun range. To the regret of Captain Semmes, he could not capture the new prize and outfit her for service in the Confederate Navy, and so he reluctantly burnt her. From this raiding area in the Dutch East Indies, CSS ''Alabama'' returned, via Singapore, to the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, conn ...

Raid bounty

References

* Hearn, Chester G., ''Gray Raiders of the Sea'', Louisiana State Press, 1996. * Luraghi, Raimondo, ''A History of the Confederate Navy'', U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1996. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama, CSS, Indian Ocean Expeditionary Raid Indian Ocean Expeditionary Raid