Alabama
CSS Alabama
- Scale: 1:72
- Release: 2007
- Limited Edition: 20
- Model Size: 47”L x 11”W x 24”H
- Base Type: Black Walnut
- Base/Case Size: 54”L x 14”Wx 25”H
- Availability: Sold Out
CSS ALABAMA (1862-1864)
CSS Alabama, a 1050-ton screw steam sloop of war, was built at Birkenhead, England, for the Confederate Navy. After leaving England in the guise of a merchant ship, she rendezvoused at sea with supply ships, was outfitted as a combatant and placed in commission on August 24, 1862. Commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, Alabama cruised in the North Atlantic and West Indies during the rest of 1862, capturing over two-dozen Union merchant ships, of which all but a few were burned. Among those released was the mail steamer Ariel, taken off Cuba on December 7, with hundreds of passengers on board.
Alabama began the new year by sinking USS Hatteras near Galveston, Texas, on January 11, 1863. She then moved into the South Atlantic, stopped at Cape Town in August, and went on to the East Indies, seizing nearly 40 more merchantmen during the year, destroying the majority and doing immense damage to the seaborne trade of the United States.
The Confederate cruiser called at Singapore in December 1863 but soon was back at sea to continue her commerce raiding. However, Alabama was increasingly in need of an overhaul and only captured a few ships in 1864. On June 11th of that year, Captain Semmes brought her to Cherbourg, France, for repairs. The Union steam sloop Kearsarge soon arrived off the port, and, on June 19, the Alabama steamed out to do battle. In an hour of intense combat, she was reduced to a sinking wreck by the Kearsarge’s guns. As Alabama disappeared beneath the surface, her surviving crewmen were rescued by the victorious Federal warship and by the English yacht Deerhound. Her wreck was located by the French Navy in the 1980s.
About the Model
Fine Art Models has produced this limited edition, CSS Alabama ship model in a scale of 1:72 with exacting detail, including all of the rigging and every block, deadeye, and fitting found on the actual ship.
Each Alabama ship model is built by a team of five (5) of the most skilled craftsmen in the world, with more than 500 man-hours just to assemble. Computers were used to generate exact scale drawings from the original blueprints. All of the materials used to construct the ship meet and/or exceed museum quality standards including a space-age, high definition resin hull, three-ply cross-hatched plywood deck and wood yards, booms, and masts painted in the same color as the original ship. Features such as the guns and canons are painted brass. In addition, all of the paint used is custom-made and impervious to ultra-violet light. As with all Fine Art Models, this CSS Alabama scale model comes complete with a Black Walnut base and leaded glass display case.
