Battle of Cherbourg (1864)
The Battle of Cherbourg, or sometimes the Battle off Cherbourg or the Sinking of CSS Alabama, was a single-ship action fought during the American Civil War between the United States Navy warship, USS Kearsarge, and the Confederate States Navy warship, CSS Alabama, on June 19, 1864, off Cherbourg, France.
Sinking of the CSS Alabama (1922), by Xanthus Smith, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York
Chart of Battle Between the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge 1864
Battle of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama (1887 lithograph)
Sinking of the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg France 1864
USS Kearsarge, a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, is best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France during the American Civil War. Kearsarge was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire. Subsequent ships were later named Kearsarge in honor of the ship.
USS Kearsarge (1861)
Chart of Battle Between the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge 1864
Firing the forward 11-inch gun on Kearsarge
Crew of USS Kearsarge in 1864 after the battle; showing both 11-inch guns pointed to starboard as they were during the battle