Roll Alabama Roll

Lyrics courtesy of www.sailorsongs.com

In eighteen-hundred and sixty-one

Roll, Alabama, roll!

This ship's building was begun

Oh, 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

Roll, Alabama, roll!

It was laid in the town of Birkenhead -

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

At first she was called the Two-Ninety-Two

Roll, Alabama, roll!

For the merchants of the city of Liverpool

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

Put up the money to build the ship

Roll, Alabama, roll!

In hopes of driving commerce from the sea

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

Down the Mersey ways she rolled then

Roll, Alabama, roll!

Liverpool fitted her with guns and men

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

Down the Mersey she rolled one day

Roll, Alabama, roll!

And across the Western she plowed her way

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

From the Western Isles she sailed forth

Roll, Alabama, roll!

To destroy the commerce of the North

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

To fight the North Semmes did employ

Roll, Alabama, roll!

Every method to kill and destroy

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

The Alabama sailed for two whole years

Roll, Alabama, roll!

Took sixty-five ships in her career

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

With British guns, oh, she was stocked

Roll, Alabama, roll!

She sailed from Fayal; in Cherbourg she docked

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

To Cherbourg port she sailed one day

Roll, Alabama, roll!

To take her count of prize money

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

But off Cherbourg the Kearsarge lay tight

Roll, Alabama, roll!

With Cap'n Winslow spoilin' for a fight

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

The Kearsarge with Winslow was waiting there

Roll, Alabama, roll!

And Semmes challenged them to fight at sea

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

Many a sailor lad foresaw his doom-

Roll, Alabama, roll!

When the Kearsarge, it hove in view

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

'Twas a ball from the forward pivot that day

Roll, Alabama, roll!

Shot the Alabama's steerin' gear away -

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

'Twas outside the three-mile limit they fought

Roll, Alabama, roll!

And Semmes escaped on a fine British yacht

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty-four

Roll, Alabama, roll!

They sent the Alabama to the cold ocean floor

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

The Kearsarge won the Alabama so brave

Roll, Alabama, roll!

Sank to the bottom to a watery grave

Oh, roll, Alabama, roll!

Lyrics courtesy of www.sailorsongs.com