Admiral Farragut . ze approaching it nearer than twomiles. Between Dauphin Island and the mainlandthere are some shoal channels, by which vessels ofvery light draft can pass from Mississippi Sound intothe bay. These were not practicable for the fightingvessels of Farraguts fleet; but a small earthworkknown as Fort Powell had been thrown up to com-mand the deepest of them, called Grants Pass. The sand bank off Dauphin Island extendssouth as well as east, reaching between four andfive miles from the entrance. A similar shoalstretches out to the southward from Mobile the two lies th
Admiral Farragut . ze approaching it nearer than twomiles. Between Dauphin Island and the mainlandthere are some shoal channels, by which vessels ofvery light draft can pass from Mississippi Sound intothe bay. These were not practicable for the fightingvessels of Farraguts fleet; but a small earthworkknown as Fort Powell had been thrown up to com-mand the deepest of them, called Grants Pass. The sand bank off Dauphin Island extendssouth as well as east, reaching between four andfive miles from the entrance. A similar shoalstretches out to the southward from Mobile the two lies the main ship channel, varyingin width from seven hundred and fifty yards, threemiles outside, to two thousand, or about a sea mile,abreast Fort Morgan. Nearly twenty-one feet canbe carried over the bar; and after passing FortMorgan the channel spreads, forming a hole orpocket of irregular contour, about four miles deepby two wide, in which the depth is from twenty totwenty-four feet. Beyond this hole, on either side. 11 » I si^ 8°1 I S3 I 8 f U !lsll1llt-h|il I ii. l?ISi!i!iH?|f ^£ I III 111 248 ADMIRAL FARRAGUT. the bay and toward the city, the water shoals grad-ually but considerably, and the heavier of Farra-guts ships could not act outside of its limits. TheConfederate ironclad Tennessee, on the contrary,drawing but fourteen feet, had a more extensive fieldof operations open to her, and, from the gradualdiminution of the soundings, was able to take herposition at a distance where the most formidable ofher opponents could neither follow her nor penetrateher sides with their shot. Between the city and the lower bay there wereextensive flats, over which not even the fourteenfeet of the Tennessee could be taken; and these inone part, called Dog River Bar, shoaled to as littleas nine feet. To bring the Tennessee into actionfor the defense of the entrance and of the lowerbay, it was necessary to carry her across these flats—an undertaking requiring both time and mechani-cal a
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