Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA

Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA
Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA

Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA

Weight 26.6 lbs, 11" diameter and 10.5" tall. The bell comes with a specially made wooden display rack from which the bell can be easily removed or put back in place. An old newspaper wood cut image of the Alexandra is shown. The bell comes from the collection of a retired Duke University doctor who is a British and American citizen.

It was found over 40 years ago from an antique shop along the coastal area of either South Carolina or Georgia. Confederate attacks using British made ships on American vessels gave the U. Government grounds to sue the British government for damages caused by the CSS Alabama and other British-made Confederate ships.

The small wooden 300 ton vessel Alexandra was very strongly built with a screw steam engine to power her propeller and a three-masted barquentine rig. At 145 feet long, she was smaller than the Florida which was 191 feet long. She was commissioned on March 7 1863 and named Alexandra after the Princess who married the Prince of Wales on March 10. Citing the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1819, British officials ordered the seizure of the CSS Alexandra in on April 5 1863. The ensuing legal action from this seizure served as a test case for future Confederate shipbuilding in Britain. The hearing took place in London, rather than Liverpool which had a pro-Confederate reputation. Prioleau and Bulloch hired former Solicitor General Hugh Cairns to act as their defense. The British courts ultimately affirmed builders their right to build ships, as long as they were not armed, but the CSS Alexandra case still dragged on through a series of appeals and counter suits.

To avoid further litigation, the British Government increasingly relied on executive power to enforce the Declaration of Neutrality. In addition, the activities of James Bulloch were placed under much greater scrutiny. In 1863, the British government also seized ironclad vessels Bulloch had commissioned to be built by John Laird Sons & Co. T was common knowledge that the Alexandra had links to the Confederacy, since a report in the newspapers on March 16 stated a gunboat built by Messrs W C Miller & Sons at Liverpool for the Confederates was launched last week.

Before the ships sailing, the Union consul, Thomas Dudley, in Liverpool used Union agents to support this allegation and he placed their evidence before the British government. Much of their evidence was hearsay and not legally significant. Dudley stated from the Miller shipyard that Alexandra was intended as a Confederate gunboat based on Captain Tessier discussing the construction of her.

The evidence presented was that Alexandra was very suitable for conversion to a warship and that she would be converted into a Confederate warship. After a year-long series of court proceedings, in May 1864 she was eventually cleared on condition that she was clearly fitted out as a merchant vessel. George's Harbour in Bermuda on August 30.

Union spies reported seeing guns on board, so she was again the subject of court proceedings. One 12 pound gun (built by Fawcett & Preston) and cases of shells were found among the goods stowed aboard, but she was released on 30 May 1865, too late for the Confederacy. It has a great bell sound. The bell is very fine overall condition. All merchandise is guaranteed to be as represented in the supplied description and pictures.

The item "Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA" is in sale since Tuesday, November 27, 2018. This item is in the category "Antiques\Maritime\Maritime Bells, Whistles & Horns".

The seller is "brillo42" and is located in Southern Pines, North Carolina. This item can be shipped to United States.


Confederate Brass Ship Bell Dated 1864 from the CSS ALEXANDRA