7 Facts About Confederate Naval Ship CSS Shenandoah

At the end of the Civil War, though the Confederate state had surrendered, Andrew Johnson was president, and John Wilkes Booth’s conspirators were awaiting trial, the fact was the CSS Shenandoah continued destroying Union vessels.

The sieges occurring 150 years ago were not due to Southern persistency; they continued because Lt. James Waddell and his crew remained unaware the war had ended.

Here are some other facts about ship:

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1. The CSS Shenandoah originally started as a British ship in September 1863.

2. A British vessel informed the sailors of the defeat.  In August of 1865, almost four months after the war was over, the sailors had rumors of the South losing confirmed.

3. Within a few months, the Confederate ship caused $1.6 million in damage. The vessel had captured 38 other boats, burning most of them. More than 1,000 prisoners were also captured, according to History.com.

4. The CSS Shenandoah shot the last blank of the war, reports Defense Media Network. The shot targeted a New Bedford whaling ship in the Bering Sea on June 22, 1865. It was more than a month after the South had surrendered in defeat of the Civil War.

5. James Bulloch covertly bought the European ship. Bulloch was a Confederate agent from Liverpool, England, who purchased and outfitted the Shenandoah. Later, he told stories about it to his nephew, Theodore Roosevelt. He was opposed on his journey by U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams, the son of President John Quincy Adams. One of the missile destroyers named for the lieutenant of the ship would eventually belong to the Charles Francis Adams-class.

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6. The Shenandoah destroyed the American whaling industry. By 1865, the American merchant marines, specifically the New England whaling fleet, were destroyed due to the Shenandoah's "commerce raiding," says Defense Media Network. In need of fuel for lamps and lubricant without whale oil, the kerosene and petroleum market grew. "In a sense, the Rebels saved the whales," Defense Media Network said.

7. The battle flag of the ship is preserved in Richmond, Virginia, at the Museum of the Confederacy.

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