Recovering CSS Alabama: The Gun Lift That Saved a Wreck

CSS Alabama was not simply found on the bottom of the English Channel — it had to be identified, protected, and carefully recovered piece by piece. After the Confederate commerce raider was sunk by USS Kearsarge off Cherbourg in 1864, its final resting place remained uncertain for more than a century.

This documentary follows the rediscovery and recovery of CSS Alabama, from the French Navy’s detection of the wreck to the forensic identification of the ship’s wheel and its famous inscription. The wreck survey revealed a hostile underwater site: sixty meters deep, swept by powerful tidal currents, buried in shell hash and sand, and dangerous for divers working within short slack-water windows.

The central engineering challenge was not raising the entire hull. Instead, the project focused on controlled artifact recovery and ship salvage decisions that preserved historical context. The most dramatic operation was the heavy lift of CSS Alabama’s seven-inch Blakely rifle, a three-ton weapon lifted with precise rigging, a cable system, a large air bag, and support from the French naval vessel La Fidèle.

Legal and ethical constraints shaped every decision. CSS Alabama remained protected by French law and recognized United States ownership, limiting access and preventing commercial looting. The hull was mostly left in situ because a full lift risked destroying the fragile wreck.

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