CSS Shenandoah Ready to Raid

OCTOBER 19TH, 1864:  The Sea King, the sleek, fast ship Commander Bulloch had obtained for the Confederate cause in England, rendezvoused with tender Laurel north of the island of Las Desertas in the Madeiras.

The Sea King was sold to the Confederate States and renamed the CSS Shenandoah, after which guns, powder, supplies, and crew members from the Laurel were loaded.

Lt. James I. Waddell, CSN, who had sailed from England in the Laurel, assumed command of the cruiser and remarked:  "Each of us asked himself instinctively, what great adventures shall we meet in her?  What will be her ultimate fate?"

The Shenandoah, one of Bulloch's greatest successes, was destined to become one of the most effective commerce raiders of the war and the last warship to sail under the Confederate flag.

--Old B-Runner

Another Raider Goes Out to Sea

OCTOBER 8, 1864:  Steamer Sea King sailed from London under merchant captain G.H. Corbet to rendezvous with the SS Laurel at Madeira.  The Sea King carried a number of Confederate officers, including Lt. William C. Whittle; Laurel put to sea later the same day carrying Lt. James I Waddell, who, when the rendezvous was effected, would take command of the Sea King and commission her the CSS Shenandoah.

The Laurel also carried the armaments and supplies that would sustain the Shenandoah on her long voyage as a Confederate raider.

Commander Bulloch later reported the Shenandoah's "safe departure" and "that the entire expedition is far away at sea, beyond the reach of interference by the United States authority in Europe....."

Roll Shenandoah.  --Old B-Runner