"most successful ships captain in all of history."
Boy, I'm going to hate to disagree with you since Semmes is one of my hero's but I think your giving him too much credit to hold such status.
One, I would not consider the USS Hatteras a "powerful" warship, not at that time, it was totally out classed by the CSS Alabama. In armament it was way out gunned...
USS Hatterus 4 x 32 pounders (15 kg) and 1 × 20 pounder (9 kg)
CSS Alabama Armament: 6 x 32 lb (15 kg) cannons, 1 x 110 lb (50 kg) cannon, 1 x 68 lb (31 kg) cannon
And in speed too, USS Hatterus- 8 knots, CSS Alabama 13 knots.
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Two, other captains in the CSS navy were good too...
Captain James Waddell of the CSS Shenandoah could be considered Semmes equal. "Shenandoah had remained at sea for 12 months and 17 days, had traversed 58,000 miles (carrying the Confederate flag around the globe for the first and only time) and sunk or captured 38 ships, mostly whalers. Waddell took close to a thousand prisoners, without a single war casualty among his crew: two men died of diseases...in 1860, two-thirds of the shipping tonnage leaving New York harbor was in American ships. Three years later foreign shipping, especially that of Great Britain, carried three-quarters of the trade. "By the time the Shenandoah lowered its flag, 715 American vessels had been transferred to the British flag to escape capture or economic liquidation". The stage was set for a British domination of world shipping that lasted until World War I."
Waddell never lost his ship to the enemy.
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John Paul Jones was excellent ship captain too, maybe more important than Semmes.
There are some U-boat commanders that would also fit that bill, Otto Kretschmer, sank From September 1939 until being captured in March 1941, sank 47 ships for a total of 274,333 tons. Albrecht Brandi destroyed 14 ships, including one light cruiser, one minelayer and 3 destroyers. He also damaged the battleship HMS Rodney and the two aircraft carriers HMS Illustrious and HMS Formidable.
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David Upton