alternatehistory.com

19 June

The Vanderbilt stops a prize two days out of Bristol, the Calypso. Her cargo (largely cotton clothing, to be sold in the Confederacy and in South America) is siezed where possible and useful, and some of the coal from the ship itself is loaded into Vanderbilt.

As the American steamer does not have the spare crew for many prizes, her captain starts as he means to go on - he takes what he can over the course of the day, then has the crew of Calypso made prisoner and sets her alight. He will later put the crew ashore at a French port. (As the Calypso is slower than the Vanderbilt, he does not want to keep the ships in company for disposal of Calypso at a neutral port.)


A small skirmish aound Lake Champlain escalates, with both battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment (the 18th) getting themselves into trouble and then shooting themselves out again. 1/18th takes considerable casualties due to friendly artillery fire (aimed to create a beaten zone, the fuzes were set too short) and the incident is the source of bar fights for the rest of the century - a man asking for "a pint of shrapnel" in one of the bars frequented by the Royal Irish is liable to get his teeth kicked in!


20 June

The Pegelius goes out for another attempt. This time it is successful in reaching the blockaders, and detonates a keg containing nearly fifty kilograms of gunpowder near the Duncan.
The powerful submarine explosion holes the Duncan and causes her to take on hundreds of tons of water, and she is driven ashore on the island the Royal Navy is using as their Boston base (Great Brewster) in order to prevent her sinking; nevertheless, she is disabled until the damage can be repaired.
The Pegelius does not survive the attack, as she is caught by the gunboat Pincher on her way back to Boston (the air within being insufficient for a two-way submarine journey out to the British anchorage and back). A single hit breaches her fragile waterproofing, and the submersible vanishes into the harbour - taking with her the entire crew, including the inventor.

Charleston sails into Gosport Naval Yard, to wild cheers from the men of the Confederate Navy, Confederate Army (those manning the batteries) and several thousand civilians who took the trip down to see her. The Charleston may be a wooden ship, but she is the largest ship yet owned by an American country at 5,150 tonnes.
The Confederacy being the Confederacy, claims are made that she could whip any three Union ships. (These are almost true, if only by virtue of the Royal Navy having destroyed most of the USN's heavy ships, but the Eads ironclads would be too much for the Charleston to take on alone.)