The well-known Confederate cruiser ‘Alabama’, which belonged to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, arrived in Singapore on 21 December 1863 amidst great public anticipation. It had stopped at Singapore to take in a supply of coal at New Harbour. John Cameron, author of ‘Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India’, recorded the great anticipation before the vessel’s arrival: “ … her appearance at Cape Town and her subsequent destruction of three American ships in the neighbourhood of Sunda Strait, had brought her prominently into notice, and it had been confidently prophesised by the newspapers that she would visit Singapore.” This print (lithograph) is based on a photograph by the firm Sachtler & Co, which was published in the ‘Illustrated London News’ of 2 April 1864 as well as John Cameron’s ‘Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India’
