THE KEARSAGE AND ALABAMA.—THE NAVAL BATTLE OFF CHERBOURG

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 280, 5 October 1864, Page 6

THE KEARSAGE AND ALABAMA. —THE NAVAL BATTLE OFF CHERBOURG

(From the A'ac York Herald, July 0.) Orn national anniversary has again brought victory Willi it, and a victory most delightful to the national heart. Captain Win'slow, a native of North Carolina, and a ciiizen of Massachusetts, is the hero of the hour —)] u: lnippv and gallant man who had the good fortune to give the country the intense thrill of patriotic pleasure caused by the announcement of the destruction of the Alabama, lie has wiped away gloriously a reproach on the name ot our navy, and has revived tin: old ] riile the people felt in the saltwater history of the Stars and Stripes. He lias earned nobly every" distinction that the Government can confer upon liini. and has earned also an honourable place in that brilliant record that, tells the achievements of John I'aul Jones, Oliver Hazard Perry, and Stephen .Decatur. The .battle between the Kcarsage and the Alabama is a verv remarkable one in several respects, It is the second battle between wooden steamships, ami exemplifies pretty clearly the changes that have been wrought ill naval warfare by steam and heavy guns. Bo'li ships were lnancouvrei'i handsomely under (ire, to such an extent that they are said to have described seven complete circles as they ncaredeach other. It was a cool, steady, stand up tight, in which, with no great discrepancy in weight of metal, and accidents aside, the best handled ship was sure to win. As we minlit expect in such a contest, the United States ship, with comparative ease, fairly beat her antagonist to pieces. Hie would have sunk another Alabama in the next hour. Yet the Kearsargo is the inferior of tho Alabama both in the number of guns and the weight of metal. The Alabamy had eleven guns, the JCearsarge only eiglit; and though the Kearsargo had two eleveninch guns, while the largest gun on the Alabama was a huncred-pound rifle, y< t tho whole weight of metal thrown by the eleven guns of the Alabama was greater than tho whole weight of metal thrown by the eight guns of the Koaisaige. Tho victory is solely due to the superior organisation and skill of our navy. l!y tliis decisive victory we have di ne more than men ly rid tho seas of a piratical pest. AVe have annihilated that marine hypothesis, the rebel navy, and we have administered a good blow to ihe British navy. AVe have beaten Jell'. Davis and John Bull in a single ship—for the Alabama was an Englishman. Showasbuiltoftlr.it "British Oak" of which wo iiavf heard in ceitain sailors' songs. She was alined with British cannon, and manned and fought by British tars—sailors trained in the British navy. She was an English ship in all but her commander and her colours ; and an English commander would not have been an advantage. Let John Bull take notice, therefore, that we have beaten a man-of-war of his organisation in honest battle, without the loss of a man and without injuiy to our ship. Let him take notice, also, that wo can with the blockade off our hands, cover the English channel with ships like the Kearsargo. Another important point in ibis battle is that it took place in Europe. It was fought under the very noses of the nations that have always poohpoohed our victories. In England and Franco they read of the far away battles of our armies, and our victories make no impression. But this naval victory they will believo in. The country is indebted to Captain Winslow for the destruction of tho Alabama, and doubly indebttd to him for having destroyed her in the English Channel.