Global raiding under British commercial neutrality

Alabama moved from South Africa toward the Indian Ocean, deliberately operating far from the Union blockade and likely concentrations of United States warships. In those waters the Royal Navy was the force most capable of catching her, so avoiding a breach with Britain mattered. British merchants were willing to accept Confederate money, while the government remained neutral and opposed direct military involvement. That gap between commercial trade and state policy explains how the Confederacy could obtain ships and weapons through Britain without securing the diplomatic alliance its supporters wanted.