SWEET ALABAMA...

Alabama notched up a notable first by becoming the only Confederate commerce raider to defeat a Union warship in open combat. 

Cruising off Galveston on January 11, 1863 while disguised as a British man-o'war, she fell in with the U.S.S. Hatteras and surprised her with a couple of well-timed broadsides. After a brief but ferocious engagement, the Yankee steamer sank.