Butler's Powder Ship, the USS Louisiana- Part 6: Explosion Was a Failure, But Fort Fisher Later Captured

In the last post on Dec. 6, we saw that the explosion of the gun powder-laden USS Louisiana did not have the hoped for result of literally knocking the huge Confederate Fort Fisher down.  No damage was done, other than at least some of the garrison being awakened.

Later that day, the huge Union fleet, the largest collection of American warships ever assembled up until that time, opened the largest-ever bombardment on the fort which continued for two days before the attack on the fort was aborted.

Three weeks later, the fleet returned and another huge three-day bombardment ensued before Union army troops captured the fort.

In 1994, state underwater archaeologists and students from East Carolina University conducted a survey off  Fort Fisher .  Many Civil War wrecks were mapped, but none of those remains could be associated with the Louisiana.

--Old B-Runner