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E F Draaijers wrote:

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In the case of a Confederate Deep water Navy, still the principle field of operation would be the inner Carraibian, making most of the forces deployed there, all within reach of landbased aircraft from less friendly states. The secondary task would be the deepwater escort for trade and other tasks, but these are always secondary, to the primary task of defense against hostile neighbours across a small piece of water.
Perhaps a few escorts capable of oceanic missions is prefered over a larger force, since a convoysystem is not likely to be effective for a secondary power the Confederate States will be, with a lesser potential over to the Northern states as in real times. Economy prevents the building of large and complex vessels, so even if some deep ocean frigates can be produced, only a few can be afforded at most. Submarines are also only of the relatively cheap conventional type, but with state of the art weaponry.

The best way to keep goods comming in is to make treaties with international institutions and allies an/ or friends abroad. By international treaties, it is possible to give allies, who are still neutral, the task of protecting cargoships, so any attack on these, may cause escalation of the conflict, which no side involved is willing to risk, due to their own limmited potential to fight a full blown war. (as I have read, both CSA and the opposing nations are secondary in nature, with a much stronger possition for the European empires, especially Britain and Habsburg??)

Ok, here's the deal:

1.) The CSA is a major power. Contrary to popular belief, the CSA has all the oil, most of the coal and all the good iron deposits in the OTL USA. This means that without the SOUTH the NORTH is the one that is hamstrung... not vice versa. The CSA in this world (and as it would have been in ours) is, after a bit of foreign aid and development, a major technological and industrial State... roughly #5 on the list of world powers.

2.) The CSA does not depend on Europe for anything. In fact, we currently export 60% of the world oil supply. We CONTROL tech growth to a large degree, by determining who gets oil and who don't. We recently threatened to starve out a warring power's navy if they didn't sue for peace.