During the Civil War, the Confederate States of America were like an island nation with 3,500 miles of foreshore along the Atlantic Ocean and the centrally located Mississippi River. Without an industry to wage war, the Confederacy desperately needed to obtain supplies of war materials from Europe. But in order to reach Europe, the Confederate ships had to go through the blockade of the northerners. For the first time in history, ships were built of iron to break the blockade and iron ships were built to stop them. This story is about how Confederate and Union ships fought on the high seas, on rivers and in ports.