Arthur Sinclair to report to New Orleans to take command of Mississippi. Sinclair arrived on 3 April. The Tift brothers about this time came under increasing public pressure to hasten the completion of their ship. A self-appointed group of citizens, calling themselves the Committee of Public Safety, tried to force them to launch Mississippi prematurely, against the advice of Sinclair and the engineers working on the ship. The Tifts refused, arguing that to do so would delay completion by several weeks. All arguments were rendered moot on 24 April, when the Union fleet passed the forts defending New Orleans from the south. Trying to move the ship to a safe place where she could be finished, Sinclair had her hastily launched — with approval of the Tifts — and tried to have her towed upriver. The tow boats he initially hired were inadequate, however, so next day he tried to find others. While he was so engaged, the Union fleet came in sight, so Mississippi was ordered burned. Notes References Further reading Durkin, Joseph T., S.J., Confederate Navy Chief: Stephen R. Mallory. Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1954; republished, Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1987. Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, 27 volumes; Series II, 3 volumes. Government Printing Office, 1894–1922. Especially useful is Volume 1 of Series II, pages 431–809, "Investigation of [Confederate] Navy Department. Report of evidence taken before a joint special committee of both Houses of the Confederate Congress to investigate the affairs of the Navy Department." Ironclad warships of the Confederate States Navy Ships built in New Orleans 1862 ships Ship fires Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River Maritime incidents in April 1862