Matt's Model Boats

Savannah, as a consequence of the State of Georgia joining the Confederate States of America, was blockaded by the United States Navy. Blockade-runners, in order to deliver consignments of war material to the ports of the Southern Confederacy, attempted to communicate with Savannah while its lines of communication were being disrupted by the Federal armada.  CSS Fingal , which had been built in Scotland, delivered a cargo of firearms and rifled guns to Savannah. It proved to be impossible, however, for the merchantman to run the blockade of the city on a second occasion. A decision was made, therefore, to transform the blockade-runner into an iron-cased ram. A pair of Ericsson batteries waited for  CSS Atlanta , as CSS Fingal  became known after its conversion into a man-of-war, at Wassaw Sound. A battle between the ironclads, in the June of 1863, soon followed.  CSS Atlanta , which was armed with a battery of 6-inch and 7-inch Brooke rifles, fired the open...