Two award-winning historians bring to life the greatest Civil War battle at sea, which was fought off the coast of France in 1864 and effectively ended the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas. On June 19, 1864, just off the coast of France, one of the most dramatic naval battles in history took place. On a clear day with windswept skies, the dreaded Confederate raider Alabama faced the Union warship Kearsarge in an all-or-nothing fight to the finish, the outcome of which would effectively end the threat of the Confederacy on the high seas.