Just Finished Reading; Clydebuilt – The Blockade Runners, Cruisers and Armoured Rams of the American Civil War by Eric J Graham (FP: 2006)

It was the last thing the Confederacy wanted – a long war. With a limited industrial base at their disposal the only way that they could clothe and arm their armies in the months or years ahead was to import countless tons of merchandise from Europe and beyond paid for by exporting cotton. The Union knew how vulnerable this made the Confederate war effort and they had the navy to enforce a blockade – or at least so they thought. Whilst both British and French merchants and Governments protested at the restriction of trade Confederate agents had slipped out on fast ships crossing the Atlantic to set up deals especially in Britain for the building of armed cruisers used for commerce raiding and, most especially, fast blockade runners capable of delivering arms and returning with vital cotton to fund the war. With potentially vast profits to be made it wasn’t long before private companies, explicitly set up to run the Union blockade, either bought or commissioned the building of some of the fastest ships in the world – the world famous Clydebuilt steamers built on the river Clyde in Scotland. With full order books unable to fill the growing demand even pleasure steamers crossed the Atlantic to take up station in the Caribbean ready to make the run into Charleston harbour, Wilmington or Mobile. The risks were high, of capture or destruction, but the potential profits made it more than worth it. With a newly constructed ship paying for itself after a single successful voyage both entrepreneurs and sea captains would be crazy not to chance everything on a clean hull and an efficient steam engine driving it at speeds in excess of 20 knots. Some captains became addicted to the chase and ran the blockade again and again even after being captured and expelled as an undesirable alien. Fortunes where made enough to finance the building of new dock facilities and start family empires that still exist today. For a few short years there was everything to play for. But the runners did not have it all their own way. As some were captured they too became part of the blockade and helped run down their previous speedy brethren. Meanwhile diplomatic efforts tried to shut the runners down and The Union even threated England with war over the matter. The two great nations only avoided war due to the snail-like pace of news crossing the Atlantic allowing tempers to cool. Nevertheless when the war was over relations were sour enough for the reunited United States to demand astronomical damages from Britain for her part in prolonging the war.

My regular readers will remember that I investigated Britain’s role in the American Civil War some time ago in my reading about UK built Confederate commerce raiders. Here was another aspect of that building programme this time covering non-combatant vessels. Told with a great deal of local knowledge this was a fascinating insight into the rather strange activity of gunrunning for profit attempting to undermine a country that we now regard as our closest ally. The Confederacy hoped that the blockade would bring both France and Britain on their side and help them defeat the Union or, at the very least, force them to concede their demand for separation. It’s actually surprising just how close they came to achieving this aim. The European involvement in the American Civil War definitely demands some more investigation. More to come. Definitely recommended to anyone interesting in the Civil War or, indeed, the rapid development of paddle steamers!