Fort Massachusetts is part of the National Park Service on West Ship Island, off the coast of Mississippi. It is a masonry fort and accessible only by boat or passenger ferry for $24.
The US Navy used it as a base for supplies and repairs, and Farragut's fleet used it as a staging area before the attack on Mobile. At one time, there were 40 buildings and as many as 18,000 troops at the fort and island.
The USS Massachusetts was built in 1860 and purchased by the US Navy in 1861 and sent to the Gulf of Mexico where it captured several blockade runners and helped recapture Ship Island.
After that, it carried supplies and personnel in the Atlantic and, on March 19, 1865, struck a mine in Charleston Harbor which failed to explode.
The article stated that there was not a name for the fort on Ship Island before the war and that it might have been named for the ship. I find it hard to believe the US government would go through the expense of building a stone fort and not have a name for it.
Which Came First, the Fort or the Ship. --Blockade-R
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
