Mobile Bay is sheltered by several islands, and Farragut led his fleet in by the closest way, near Fort Morgan, which was on Mobile Point. Farragut went in with all guns blazing, but the heart seemed to go out of his men when the lead vessel, the USS Tecumseh, hit a mine and exploded. She and her ninety-man crew went to the bottom immediately.

This was a crucial moment in the Battle for Mobile, but also for the entire Union naval effort. Farragut, typically, was not the type to give up. Many observers claim that he shouted “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” while others state that he merely gave the command for the attack to continue. In either case, the other sixteen ships of the federal attack squadron passed through the torpedo-laden channel without incident. Very likely, the torpedoes had been corrupted by saltwater.