Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Confederate Cruiser Chickamauga-- Part 2

The Chickamauga went on to capture and sink the Goodspeed and Otter Rock and bonded the Speedwell.

Then, it was on to Bermuda to recoal (lack of space for fuel limited how far the Chickamauga could cruise).  Sixty-five men deserted there.  Seems like that is quite a large number of the crew.  Wonder what was happening to cause it?

Then, it was back to Fort Fisher.

At Wilmington, the USS Clematis, Wilderness, Cherokee and Kansas gave chase, but Wilkinson got over the bar.

In three weeks, the Chickamauga had captured seven ships and the Tallahassee added four to that number.

The Tallahassee (Olustee) was reconverted to a blockade-runner named the Chameleon.  Wilkinson took it through the blockade, but on his return, Wilmington had fallen so they went to Liverpool where the British government seized the ship and turned it over to the United States who sold it to Japan.

Chameleon Was a Good Name for the Ship.  --Old B-Runner



No comments:

Post a Comment