Which Confederate raider sank 65 Union merchant ships?

CSS Alabama was the Confederate commerce raider credited with capturing or destroying 65 Union merchant vessels during the American Civil War. Built in Britain in 1862, the fast steam-powered sloop became the Confederacy’s most famous naval raider.

Commanded by Raphael Semmes, Alabama operated across the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. Rather than fight major naval battles, it targeted American merchant shipping, capturing crews and cargoes before burning or sinking vessels. Its campaign disrupted Northern commerce and forced the Union to devote naval resources to hunting it down.

The ship’s career ended near Cherbourg, France, on June 19, 1864. Alabama fought the Union sloop-of-war USS Kearsarge outside the harbor. Kearsarge used chain armor around parts of its hull and eventually sank the Confederate raider. Alabama captured 64 or 65 Union-flagged vessels, depending on the counting convention, and also sank the USS Hatteras. The other options were Confederate warships, but none matched Alabama’s record as the war’s premier Confederate commerce raider.