Raphael Semmes, CSN, commissioned her the next day as a cruiser and tender to the Alabama, renaming her Tuscaloosa.

Low, CSN, with 15 men, was ordered on board with instructions for an African cruise in the direction of the Cape of Good Hope.

On July 31, 1863 Tuscaloosa captured the American ship Santee with a cargo of rice and bonded her for $150,000.

On November 19, 1863, he put into St. Catherine's, Brazil, for supplies but was not allowed to purchase them and was informed he must depart before nightfall.

From there, Tuscaloosa returned to Simon's Bay on December 26, 1863, only to be seized the next day by British authorities as an uncondemned prize which had violated the neutrality of Her Majesty's Government.