June 24, 1868

The CSS Selma originally was named the Florida, and it sailed the waters of the Gulf Coast in the mid-19^th century. When the Civil War started, the Confederate navy commandeered the vehicle and converted the steam-powered, side-wheel ship into a gunboat for service in Mobile Bay and along the Gulf Coast. On Aug. 5, 1864 when Union Admiral David Farragut led 18 vessels into Mobile Bay, the Selma was surrendered after an hour-long running fight. Farragut commissioned the gunboat as the USS Selma, and the ship took part in the Union Navy’s bombardment of Fort Morgan on Aug. 10. The ship was decommissioned in 1865 and went back into commercial service. It sank on June 24, 1868, south of Galveston, Texas.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The CSS Selma was a Confederate warship built in 1856 in Mobile. The vessel was captured by the Confederacy in 1861 and converted to a gunship and in 1862 was renamed Selma. The ship fought in the Battle of Mobile Bay and was surrendered to Union forces on Aug. 5, 1864. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph by T. Lilienthal)

David G. Farragut (1801-1870) was a Union Navy commander who led his fleet to the capture of New Orleans in 1862 and of Mobile Bay in 1864, during which he reportedly exclaimed, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” He was the first man promoted to Rear Admiral of the Union Navy, as well as its first four-star admiral. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Library of Congress)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.