Coombe, Jack D

Discusses how the use of ironclad and wooden-hulled boats influenced the outcome of the Civil War, and profiles the ships that were used in the major battles fought on the Mississippi river.

Coombe takes us inside the suffocating hulls of steam-powered ironclads shuddering under the impact of cannonballs and gunboat rams, into nights lit by the fires of burning ships, and harrowing battles as gunships hammer away at each other from virtually point-blank range, often unable to tell friend from foe.