of Perry's show of force until the signing of the Convention of Kanagawa on 31 March. Mississippi returned to New York City on 23 April 1855, and again sailed for the Far East on 19 August 1857, to base at Shanghai and patrol in support of America's burgeoning trade with the Orient. As the flagship for Commodore Josiah Tattnall III, she was present during the British and French attack on the Chinese forts at Taku in June 1859, and two months later, she landed a force at Shanghai when the American consul requested her aid in restoring order to the city, torn by civil strife. She returned to ordinary at Boston, Massachusetts, in January 1860, but was reactivated when the American Civil War became inevitable. Civil War Mississippi arrived off Key West, Florida, to institute the blockade there on 8 June 1861, and five days later made her first capture, the schooner Forest King bound with coffee from Rio de Janeiro to New Orleans, Louisiana. On 27 November 1861, off Northeast Pass of the Mississippi River, she joined in capturing the British bark Empress, again carrying coffee from Rio to New Orleans. The following spring, she joined Farragut's squadron for the planned assault on New Orleans. After several attempts, on 7 April 1862, she and successfully passed over the bar at Southwest Pass, the heaviest ships ever to enter the river to that time. As Farragut brought his fleet up the river, a key engagement was that with Fort Jackson and Fort Saint Philip on 24 April 1862, during which Mississippi ran the Confederate ram Manassas ashore, wrecking her with two mighty broadsides. One of her sailors, Seaman Christopher Brennan, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his part in the battle. The city was now doomed, and Mississippi, her heavy draft making her less suitable to river operations than lighter ships, remained off New Orleans for much of the next year. Ordered upriver for the operations against Port Hudson, Louisiana, Mississippi sailed with six other ships lashed in pairs, while she sailed alone. On 14 March 1863, she grounded while attempting to pass the forts guarding Port Hudson. Under enemy fire, every effort was made to refloat her by Captain Melancton Smith and his executive officer George Dewey (later to achieve fame as an admiral). At last, her machinery was destroyed, her battery spiked, and she was fired to