Awesome bit of history there!!! I'm a Civil War buff. I knew it was built at the shipyard of Johnathan Laird from having learned the song Roll Alabama Roll.
When the Alabama's keel was laid
Roll, Alabama, roll!
It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird
Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!
It was laid in the yard of Jonathan Laird
It was laid in the town of Birkenhead
Across the Mersey river she sailed then
And Liverpool fitted her with guns and men
From the Western Isles she sailed forth
To destroy all commerce of the North
Down to Cherbourg came she straight one day
For to take her toll in prize money
There many a sailor lad met his doom
When the ship Kearsarge hove in view
And a shot from the forward pivot that day
It shot the Alabama's stern away
In the three-mile limit, in sixty-five
The Alabama sunk to her grave