075-640805-[A]Mobile Bay.20 - WDS Forgotten Campaigns

(Alternative 20 minute turns) On the morning of August 5th, 1864, Admiral David G Farragut led a combined army/navy assault on the defenses of Mobile, Alabama. Eighteen warships in column surged toward a narrow opening between the head of land on which Fort Morgan stood, and a barrier of pylons and mines, called "torpedoes" at the time. The channel, only 300 yards wide, had been left open for the passage of blockade runners. Mobile Bay's Confederate defenders consisted of three forts and four warships. A joint operation by a powerful fleet, and a relatively small force from the army will be required to reduce those three forts and defeat the Confederate navy, whose only really competitive vessel, the formidable Tennessee, is ready to take on all comers. In five hours, if Farragut can get a effective force past Fort Morgan, and neutralize the Tennessee, it is almost assured that Mobile will be ripe for the taking. Reference: "West Wind, Flood Tide, The Battle of Mobile Bay," by Jack Friend