USS EASTPORT

The Eastport originally a civilian side-wheeler taken over by the Confederates, was undergoing transformation to an iron clad gun boat at Cerro Gordo , Tennessee, when it was captured by the Union. The unfinished Eastport, along with a barge of iron plating, was towed to Cairo, Illinois and finished there. Commissioned 9 January, 1863. Took part in the ill-fated Red River Expedition. Spies had reported great quantities of cotton were stored up the Red River. An armada of Union ships made it above Alexandria, La, but falling waters, partly due to dams erected by the Confederates up stream. Water trapped the fleet at some falls above Alexandria. Helped by the US Army, a set of coffer dams was built, raising the level of the river above the falls, the ships gathered above the dam, then the center section was blown up, and the ships shot the rapids to safety, below. As the retreat down river continued, the Confederate army followed, harassing them all the way. Below Grand Encore, Louisiana the Eastport hit a torpedo (mine) and was too damaged to continue. She was blown up to prevent capture, on 26 April 1864, and her remains are now under some 30 feet of mud and gravel. They have been located and might be dug out some day.

1/96  SCALE

DM-956-113

PRICE:  $ 36.25