The CSS Mississippi, laid down at New Orleans in October 1861, would have been a formidable ship if it had been finished before the Union attack on, and capture of the city. However, due to beauracracy, lack of manufacturing facilities for the machinary and armor, and the failure of the Confederacy to recognise the importance of New Orleans, the ship was launched incomplete just before the Union attacked, and the Confederates, unable to tow the ship upstream, were forced to destroy her by fire. The Mississippi was incomplete at the time, with no armament, incomplete armor, and only one of her three screws mounted, but I have chosen to represent her as she might have looked upon completion.

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