Sunday, November 22, 2015

The End of the CSS Shenandoah-- Part 1: Visited by Waddell

From the November/December Confederate Veteran Magazine "The CSS Shenandoah" by Ian Dewar, President of 290 Foundation (BVI), Inc.  I have written about the organization earlier.

The article covered the ship's whole career and had a map of the world showing the Shenandoah's circumnavigation of it.  I will pick up the story of what happened to the ship after its surrender.

The Shenandoah was then towed to the newly completed dock called Herculaneum to await possession by the U.S. government.  The U.S. consul in Liverpool was ordered to find a crew and captain to sail her back to the U.S.  Captain Freeman from the New York area was hired and he found a crew of 55.

The winter of 1865-1866 was particularly bad with storms and after a month at sea, Freeman was forced to return to Liverpool.  He reported the Shenandoah badly needed repairs and managed to find other things to do rather than attempt another voyage.

The Shenandoah remained in Liverpool until the end of 1866 and was often visited by former commander James Waddell, who had elected to remain in Liverpool (with the fear of being executed in the U.S. for piracy).

--Old B-Runner

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