In 1864, after the Alabama had been sunk, the Confederates purchased the Sea King from England and outfitted her with numerous guns etc. They rechristened the ship CSS Shenandoah and sailed around the world to Alaskan waters where they destroyed a large portion of the Yankee Whaling Fleet.
The Shenandoah continued to fight for many months after Lee surrendered, unaware of the ensuing peace. The last battles of the Civil War were fought in Alaskan waters. Captain Waddell was planning on sailing into San Francisco Bay and laying waste to the merchant ships and dock facilities there when he finally discovered that the war was over.
His ship and crew had been labeled Pirates and they were pursued relentlessly by Union warships. But The Shenandoah successfully rounded Cape Horn and docked in England where they received a better welcome than the hanging which awaited them if they had been captured. I am still fine tuning my song about this episode in American history.