JUNE 9TH, 1865: The CSS Ajax, Lt. Low, arrived at Liverpool, England, from Bermuda. The Ajax had been detained at Bermuda by the British government after Low had made an unsuccessful attempt to arm his ship under the guise of taking a shipment of guns to Havana.
The vessel was released after news had reached Bermuda that the American war had ended with the surrender oft the Confederacy.
Upon his arrival in Liverpool, Low turned his ship over to local port authorities The former lieutenant on the CSS Alabama chose to remain in England rather than return to his homeland. He established his residence in Liverpool where he subsequently became a prosperous shipping and cotton mill executive.
Years later, he was presented with the Alabama's pennant by a Frenchman who had witnessed the ship's battle with the USS Kearsarge from a yacht and had salvaged her pennant.
Today, the pennant, seventy-five feet in length and bearing twenty-seven white stars on a blue field, with a red and white tail, is in the possession of John Low's grandson.
--Old B-R'er
Showing posts with label CSS Ajax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSS Ajax. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
CSS Ajax Enters St. George's, Bermuda
MAY 4TH, 1865: The CSS Ajax, Lt. Low, entered St. George's, Bermuda, from Nassau. The Confederate commander had not yet learned that his government had collapsed and that Generals Lee and Johnston had surrendered in April.
He attempted to obtain guns for delivery to Havana, but Governor W.G. Hamley refused to permit it. He advised Low: "The Ajax has been a suspected vessel ever since she was launched. She has the appearance of a gunboat; she has never carried merchant cargo; she changed owners in Nassau; she is now commanded by an officer in the service of the Confederate States; in short, she wants nothing but armament to be in a position to take the seas as a privateer."
--Old B-Runner
He attempted to obtain guns for delivery to Havana, but Governor W.G. Hamley refused to permit it. He advised Low: "The Ajax has been a suspected vessel ever since she was launched. She has the appearance of a gunboat; she has never carried merchant cargo; she changed owners in Nassau; she is now commanded by an officer in the service of the Confederate States; in short, she wants nothing but armament to be in a position to take the seas as a privateer."
--Old B-Runner
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Steamer Ajax Puts Into Nassau
MARCH 11TH, 1865: The steamer Ajax put into Nassau. Lt. Low, who had been listed as a "passenger" now assumed command of the vessel Governor Rawson W. Rawson of Bermuda carefully examined her and concluded that "nothing [was] found on her.... She now appears to be intended for a tug.
"It is suspected that she was intended as a tender to the Confederate Iron-clad vessel [Stonewall], said to now be in a Spanish Port, watched by two Federal cruisers."
On 25 March transferred her registry and she became the CSS Ajax. By early April the Ajax was ready to sail to Bermuda.
--Old B-Runner
"It is suspected that she was intended as a tender to the Confederate Iron-clad vessel [Stonewall], said to now be in a Spanish Port, watched by two Federal cruisers."
On 25 March transferred her registry and she became the CSS Ajax. By early April the Ajax was ready to sail to Bermuda.
--Old B-Runner
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Future Confederate Gunboat Ajax Leaves Dublin, Ireland
JANUARY 22, 1865: The steamer Ajax, with Lt. John Low, CSN, aboard as a "passenger", put out of Dublin, Ireland, for Nassau. The Ajax had been built for the Confederacy in Dumbarton, Scotland, for use in harbor defense.
She had been detained in Dublin for more than a week because the U.S. Consul there suspected that the light draft vessel was bound for the South. However, two inspections failed to substantiate this belief and the 340 ton would-be gunboat was released.
Nevertheless, Charles F. Adams, the American Ambassador in England, and Secretary of State Seward prevailed upon British Foreign Minister Earl Russell to prevent the armament of Ajax in Halifax, Bermuda, or Nassau.
--Too Late Anyway. --Old B-R'er
She had been detained in Dublin for more than a week because the U.S. Consul there suspected that the light draft vessel was bound for the South. However, two inspections failed to substantiate this belief and the 340 ton would-be gunboat was released.
Nevertheless, Charles F. Adams, the American Ambassador in England, and Secretary of State Seward prevailed upon British Foreign Minister Earl Russell to prevent the armament of Ajax in Halifax, Bermuda, or Nassau.
--Too Late Anyway. --Old B-R'er
Thursday, January 8, 2015
New Confederate Warships Ajax and Hercules
JANUARY 8TH, 1865: Commander James D. Bulloch, Confederate naval agent in England, ordered Lt. John Low, who had previously served aboard the CSS Alabama and as captain of the CSS Tuscaloosa, to assume command of the twin screw steamer Ajax, upon her arrival in Nassau.
Scheduled to sail from Glasgow on Jan. 12th, Ajax had been built in Scotland under a contract of 14 September 1864 and had been designated a tugboat "to deceive Federal spies".
Minor alterations were planned to make her--and her sister ship Hercules-- useful in the defense of Wilmington. However, the Ajax never reached the Confederacy, and the Hercules was never completed.
On 1 March, Secretary Mallory wrote Bulloch: "A notice of the arrival of the Ajax at a port in Ireland has reached me through the United States papers, but no further advices as to her or the Hercules or other vessels have come to hand.
--Old B-R'er
Scheduled to sail from Glasgow on Jan. 12th, Ajax had been built in Scotland under a contract of 14 September 1864 and had been designated a tugboat "to deceive Federal spies".
Minor alterations were planned to make her--and her sister ship Hercules-- useful in the defense of Wilmington. However, the Ajax never reached the Confederacy, and the Hercules was never completed.
On 1 March, Secretary Mallory wrote Bulloch: "A notice of the arrival of the Ajax at a port in Ireland has reached me through the United States papers, but no further advices as to her or the Hercules or other vessels have come to hand.
--Old B-R'er
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