Невероятная инженерия CSS Alabama — корабль, охотившийся на флот Союза

A ship built in secret on British soil, armed in the middle of the Atlantic, and never once welcomed into a port of the nation whose flag she flew. This is the story of CSS Alabama, and the engineering that let her terrorize the Union merchant fleet for 534 days across four oceans. In 1862, hull number 290 slipped out of John Laird Sons and Company in Birkenhead under the name Enrica. Behind her was a loophole in British neutrality law, a Confederate agent named James Dunwoody Bulloch, and a US consul racing to stop her. Ahead of her lay a two-year raiding cruise that would cripple American shipping and spark one of the most important arbitration cases in history. In this video, we break down: • How Bulloch built a warship without technically building a warship • The copper-fastened oak hull, and why copper sheathing meant survival at sea • The hybrid sail-and-steam plant with its retractable brass propeller • The telescopic funnel and the art of looking like an innocent merchantman • The 110-pounder Blakely pivot rifle and the rest of her armament • Raphael Semmes's raiding tactics, from the Azores to the South China Sea • The fight with USS Hatteras off Galveston • The final battle against USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg on June 19, 1864 • The Geneva arbitration and the $15.5 million in gold Britain paid • The wreck on the seabed today, and the loaded gun divers brought up in 1994 Timeline: 1861 – Bulloch sent to England 1862 – Hull 290 escapes Birkenhead 1862 – Commissioned in the Azores 1863 – Hatteras sunk off Galveston 1864 – Sunk by Kearsarge at Cherbourg 1872 – Geneva tribunal delivers its verdict If this deep dive into the Alabama's design and legacy earned your attention, subscribe to Black Frigate and tell us in the comments which ship should be next. #CSSAlabama #NavalHistory #AmericanCivilWar #Confederacy #ShipEngineering #BlackFrigate #MaritimeHistory #CommerceRaider 00:00 Intro 00:40 James Bulloch's Secret Mission 01:45 The Neutrality Loophole at Laird's Shipyard 02:29 Engineering a Ship With No Home Port 03:53 Copper Sheathing and Hull Design 05:14 Hybrid Propulsion and the Retractable Propeller 07:39 Telescopic Funnel and Armament 09:05 Race to Escape Birkenhead 10:32 Birth of the CSS Alabama 11:35 Raiding Tactics and the Hatteras 14:21 Hunting Across Four Oceans 17:49 Showdown with the Kearsarge at Cherbourg 21:39 Geneva Arbitration and Legacy 24:53 Outro