Tour of Ft. Macomb

Fort McClary is pretty interesting. Originally a large blockhouse and some water batteries it was being rebuilt as a large granite fort but was never completed. The site is still littered with large granite blocks showing tool marks.

There are two caponiers, a completed one on the water and an uncompleted one on the land side.

2E1D59C5-7C97-4C63-8AF9-8A1E036FCF63.jpeg


F97DEE9E-0097-4C5F-8ADD-6858CDA9FD32.jpeg


BE0C6A02-2802-47E4-B2E5-7636CDCC0B84.jpeg


992656E0-57AD-43D6-94B1-7E8F071D4463.jpeg
 
CSS Louisiana is literally right next to it - buried about thirty feet under the bank
Very true.

Most do not realize how massive the original New Orleans Confederate ironclads really were.

The CSS Louisiana & the CSS Mississippi dwarfed anything that was being constructed/designed at Hampton Roads.

However, there was a major difference.
The New Orleans ironclads went into battle far from being finished.
(Thus they didn't last long).

I don't think the CSS Mississippi had working engines.
It was basically a floating battery pushed down river by tug boats.

The US Navy had no problems eliminating those Confederate behemoths.

But it wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise for the US Navy as they approached New Orleans.

Anyway, I would love to see what's left of those Mississippi River Forts !
 
The wreck of Manassas is supposed to be nearby as well.
Now that's one very interesting vessel !

There are many threads about the Manassas on CWT , but I don't know enough about it to comment.
Our naval experts have posted some fascinating facts.

Regarding the remains of Confederate Ironclads, the famous CSS Arkansas ( of the Vicksburg Campaign )
rests under a levee below the Mississippi River . . . a few miles north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
 
Down here where I live, in Sabine Pass, the wreck of the ferryboat-turned gunboat-turned blockade runner Clifton lies buried under the marsh mud at a spot where I've duck hunted for years. She hit a mud flat while trying to run out of the Pass one night, and the crew set here afire. She burned to the waterline, and until about 1920 her steam drum and parts of her walking beam were visible above the water. Now that spot is covered by mud, marsh grass, and oyster shells.
1613263075075.png
 
Down here where I live, in Sabine Pass, the wreck of the ferryboat-turned gunboat-turned blockade runner Clifton lies buried under the marsh mud at a spot where I've duck hunted for years. She hit a mud flat while trying to run out of the Pass one night, and the crew set here afire. She burned to the waterline, and until about 1920 her steam drum and parts of her walking beam were visible above the water. Now that spot is covered by mud, marsh grass, and oyster shells.
View attachment 390935
That's very interesting !

I'm sure you're well aware of the forgotten WW II German Kriegsmarine U-boat activity within the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Oh yes. There’s a great book called Torpedoes in the Gulf, highly recommended.
By Melanie Wiggins.

Know it well.

I bought her book when she originally published it . . . almost twenty years ago. (1995)
I still enjoy reading Torpedoes in the Gulf.
"U-507, sailed up to the mouth of the Mississippi River and started sinking merchant ships."
The US Government hid those facts from everyone.

U-166 is even more interesting.

That U-boat remained an unsolved mystery during 1995.
Controversial as well.

But yeah, that's a great book.

No doubt in my mind, there were more than a few locals that returned to Fort Macomb to watch for such threats during World War II.

 
Excellent, that’s the one! I knew of the history, but didn’t know the particulars until stumbling across the book at an old-fashioned bookstore in Galveston.

I agree, very plausible that folks stood watch at Macomb and other places during WW2 to watch for the U-boat menace. Literally fifty yards from the Clifton wreck I mentioned earlier was a pair of national guard 155mm guns during the 40s. Guarding against an enemy they couldn’t see!
 
Back
Top