USS Kearsarge was built at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine under the 1861 American Civil War emergency shipbuilding program. The new 1550 ton steam sloop of war was launched 11 September 1861 with Captain Charles W. Pickering in command. Soon after, she was hunting for Confederate States of America raiders in European waters.
Kearsarge departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire on February 5, 1862 for the coast of Spain. She thence sailed to Gibraltar to join the blockade of Confederate raider Sumter, forcing her abandonment in December. However, Sumter's commanding captain, Raphael Semmes, soon commissioned Confederate raider CSS Alabama on the high seas off the Azores.
From November 1862 through March 1863 Kearsarge prepared for her fight with Alabama at Cádiz, then searched for the raider from along the coast of Northern Europe to the Canaries, Madeira, and the Outer Hebrides. Arriving at Cherbourg, France, on June 14, 1864, she found Alabama in port where she had gone for repairs after a devastating cruise at the expense of 65 ships of the United States' merchant marine. Kearsarge took up patrol at the harbor's entrance to await Semmes' next move.
On June 19, Alabama stood out of Cherbourg Harbor for her last action. Mindful of French neutrality, Kearsarge's new commanding officer, Captain John Winslow, took the sloop-of-war well clear of territorial waters, then turned to meet the Confederate cruiser.
Alabama opened fire first while Kearsarge held her reply until she had closed to less than 1000 yards. Steaming on opposite courses, the ships moved around a circle as each commander tried to cross his opponent's bow to deliver deadly raking fire. The battle quickly turned against Alabama, for the quality of her long-stored powder and shell had deteriorated. Kearsarge, on the other hand, had been given added protection by chain cable triced in tiers along her sides abreast vital places. One hour after she fired her first salvo, Alabama had been reduced to a sinking wreck. Semmes struck his colors and sent a boat to Kearsarge with a message of surrender and an appeal for help. Kearsarge rescued the majority of Alabama's survivors; but Semmes and 41 others were picked up by British yacht Deerhound and escaped in her to England.
The battle between Kearsarge and Alabama is honored by the United States Navy by a battle star on the Civil War campaign streamer.
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