Sea of Gray

The Around-the-World Odyssey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah

Tom Chaffin

• Publisher: Hill and Wang
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9780374707002
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

"A superb account of how the Confederate raider Shenandoah brought the American Civil War to the farthest reaches of the world." —Nathaniel Philbrick

The sleek, 222-foot, black auxiliary steamer Sea King left London on October 8, 1864, ostensibly bound for Bombay. The subterfuge was ended off the shores of Madeira, where the ship was outfitted for war. The newly christened CSS Shenandoah then commenced the last, most quixotic sea story of the Civil War: the 58,000-mile, around-the-world cruise of the Confederacy's second most successful commerce raider. Before its voyage was over, thirty-two Union merchant and whaling ships and their cargoes would be destroyed. But it was only after ship and crew embarked on the last leg of their journey that the excursion took its most fearful turn.

Four months after the Civil War was over, the Shenandoah's Captain Waddell finally learned he was, and had been, fighting without cause or state. In the eyes of the world, he had gone from being an enemy combatant to being a pirate—a hangable offense. Now fearing capture and mutiny, with supplies quickly dwindling, Waddell elected to camouflage the ship, circumnavigate the globe, and attempt to surrender on English soil.

Assembled from hundreds of original documents, including intimate shipboard journals kept by Shenandoah officers, Sea of Gray is a masterful narrative of men at sea.

"Chaffin delivers a crackerjack story, well-researched but not overwhelmed by technical details. He writes with authority and a clear passion for the colorful, fated characters of this true-life bluewater saga." — Raleigh News and Observer

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Notice
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ONE - Of Ice Floes and Arctic Fires
• TWO - “A Good, Capital Ship in Every Respect”
• THREE - Black Cruiser on a Thames Night
• FOUR - Las Desertas
• FIVE - “A Bucket of Sovereigns”
• SIX - Crossing the Royal Yards
• SEVEN - King Neptune’s Court
• EIGHT - Breezing Up
• NINE - “A Decidedly Recherché Affair”
• TEN - “The Old Sea Dogs Chuckled”
• ELEVEN - “Doubtful Shoals”
• TWELVE - Ascension Island
• THIRTEEN - Pacific Spring
• FOURTEEN - Sea of Okhotsk
• FIFTEEN - Bering Sea
• SIXTEEN - The Hardest Blow Against Yankee Commerce
• SEVENTEEN - “A Sort of Choking Sensation”
• EIGHTEEN - “Long Gauntlet to Run”
• NINETEEN - “A Perfect Hell Afloat”
• TWENTY - “The Old Ship Became Fainter and Fainter”
• Maps and Illustrations
• ALSO BY TOM CHAFFIN
• Appendix A
• Appendix B
• Notes
• Note on Sources
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Index
• Copyright Page