December 17, 2016 – Saturday
The Gulf Intracostal Waterway is approximately 1050 miles and runs from Brownsville, Texas to Carrabelle, Florida.
Today, Rick and I covered the 46.5 miles from Ft. Walton Beach to Panama City Beach, FL. This section of the GIWW was very isolated, we saw a few fishing boats, a homeless camp, and a consistent change of vegetation. It was only as we neared West Bay, just before Panama City, the bird life seemed to return.
Civil War History (April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865) Interesting Facts about Civil War Navies
- The Union “Anaconda Plan” relied heavy on sea supremacy.
- The Union navy grew by 600% to meet the demands of the war.
- Naval dominance on the rivers allowed the Federals to gain an edge in the war on land.
- The Civil War featured the first battle between ironclad ships.
- The first successful submarine attack took place during the Civil War.
- Southern raiders terrorized Northern traders, reducing the strength of the Northern merchant fleet by half.
- The Union blockade failed to stop the majority of ships that tested it, but successfully deterred the majority of the South’s pre-war international trade.
- Diplomatic naval crises brought the North and Great Britain to the brink of war–twice.
- New Orleans, the largest city in the South, was captured primarily through naval action.
- The sailors on the CSS Shenandoah were the last Confederates to lower their flag.
