The first ocean-going paddler, this U.S. Navy steamer launched May 5, 1841, and served under the command of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry during the siege of Veracruz during the Mexican-American War. Perry took the Mississippi to Japan to ‘open’ the country to American trade. The ship also served in the East India Squadron during the second Opium War. Assigned to the Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron, the Mississippi captured Key West, Florida, and then served during Admiral D. G. Farragut’s capture of New Orleans. The Mississippi is credited with being the first wooden warship to sink an ironclad, but she was lost when she ran aground on March 14, 1863, at Port Hudson, Louisiana.