louisiana2000

October 1864, when the United States Navy launched a large armada of warships and transport vessels to assault the Confederate held Fort Fisher. Admiral David D. Porter was in command of the expedition, and after meeting with General Grant, he was not pleased. Porter felt as if Grant was not vested in the assault on Fort Fisher and was stalling sending any troops to assist him. Porter made a formal complaint to the Navy Department regarding his concerns.
General Grant was under great pressure politically to send ground forces to assist in the assault on Fort Fisher, but General Benjamin F. Butler, commander of the North Carolina and Virginia forces had concocted a plan to use a ship as a floating bomb to destroy the walls of Fort Fisher. Upon hearing the idea, Assistant Navy Secretary Gustavus Fox approved of the plan. The Navy-s Bureau of Ordnance determined that a properly fitted and well placed ship could destroy the Fort-s walls.
Adm. Porter then decided to use the USS Louisiana as the floating bomb, the ship was sent to Gosport Navy Yard where it was stripped and then disguised as a blockade-runner. By December Grant had supplied 6,500 ground troops and the USS Louisiana was filled with over 200 tons of gunpowder and was ready for the assault on Fort Fisher.
On December 23, Adm. Porter-s fleet was in position to begin the assault. The USS Louisiana was launched under the cover of darkness, the fuses were set and the ship sent sailing toward the Fort. An unexpected offshore breeze along with an undertow had pushed the Louisiana off course, and when the ship exploded it sent a shock wave across the ocean, which rattled rigging of ships in the fleet, but did not damage the walls of Fort Fisher.