The Naval Actions that determined the outcome of the American Civil War were as exciting as any in the annals of naval history. For the first time armored ships engaged in battle, and a submarine attacked and sank an enemy ship. Courageous men on both sides of the conflict sailed makeshift warships into battle, while lone runners slipped by night through the formidable Northern blockade to bring supplies to the South. Fast little gunboats patrolled the rivers, "rams" with long, pointed bows smashed full speed into the tides of cumbersome warships. Army and Navy joined forces to stage the first big amphibious operations, while guns boomed from the forts on rivers and harbors.

Colonel Dupuy tells the story of the daring naval blockade that helped win the war for the North and proved indisputably the courage and gallantry of the South. This is a companion book to the author's THE FIRST BOOK OF CIVIL WAR LAND BATTLES.

From the dust jacket