Kearsarge (CVA 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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s, ,, .61-,'s+e-'11 ,. ,. V 'Aw 7 .zfwgika-.,w'mm:p si-rrp.: My history is more than the life story of one aircraft carrier sit goes much deeper than that. l carry on the traditions and spirit of two earlier ships that bore the name l wear so proudly today. Their story is also my story. lt all started nearly a hundred years ago... In 1861 a steam and sail powered, seven-gun sloop-of-war slid down the ways into Portsmouth Harbor in New Hampshire. Named after a mountain in Caroll Country, New Hampshire, she was the first United States Navy vessel to bear the name KEARSARGE. Her coming went relatively unnoticed, but three years later she would win ever- lasting fame as the victor in the only maior open sea battle of the War Between the States--a battle that would see the famous Confederate raider ALABAMA sent to the bottom of the sea after a fantastically suc- cessful career of ravaging Union sea commerce and outrunning any ship that challenged her speed. Detailed to seek out and destroy the scourge of the Northern sea lanes, Captain John Winslow of the KEAR- SARGE caught up with the ALABAMA at Cherbourg Harbor in France, where she had put in to refuel and repro- vision. Prohibited by International Law from attacking while his enemy was in a neutral harbor, Winslow chal- lenged the ALABAMA to open sea combat. For five days Winslow waited, steaming iust beyond the harbor entrance to prevent his adversary from sneaking out undetected. Finally, on June l9th, the ALABAMA stood out of the harbor to accept the challenge. Although the KEARSARGE was inferior to the ALABAMA in num- ber of guns and weight of broadside, the capabilities ofthe two ships would be made more nearly equal by a resourceful Captain Winslow. To pro-

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l i i P 1 M LR , -. 'tv' Qia- I ' ':.3 ' I 1 I i 1 5 i 4 i l l i i l l l i QI: J in tect the KEARSARGES vulnerable boiler rooms, where a hit could mean disaster, he had the anchor chain strung out along the amidships portion of his ship's sides. The battle lasted sixty-five minutes, with the ALABAMA expending more than twice as much ammunition as did the KEARSARGE. But the combination of the make-shift armor plating and the deadly accuracy ofthe KEARSARGE gunners took their toll-the most suc- -Ll cessaful commerce raider of the Civil War was destroyed. ln recognition of the outstanding record of the first KEARSARGE, the Secretary of the Navy asked for and received permission from Congress to make an exception to the standing rule that battleships be named after states of the Union. BB-5 was designated U.S.S. KEARSARGE. Launched in 1898, she came too late for the Spanish- American War and never saw battle -i i I i