I think that the issue of the Ponchartrain being partially ironed is very interesting. I've seen an excerpt from Porter's memoirs where he apparently thought that she was being ironed. (probably based upon the report someone put on this board) We do know that many of the paddle wheel gunboats operated by the CSN had jury-rig wood and iron protection added for the engines and boilers. The wooden gunboats at Mobile are certainly cited as such and they were acquired in the same time frame. There are also reports that a number of the "River Defense Fleet" also had similar protection. Railway iron was a common short cut in the west for the Confederates. To the best of my knowledge they never did succeed in getting any kind of rolling mill operational in the Trans-Mississippi. I'm also intrigued by the possibility that the impetus for better protection for the gunboats may have come from the Army. We know that the Cotton and Barrataria were Army boats and manned and protected by the Army. The Army was also interested in using railway iron to harden gun emplacements and the Army did so at De Russey. There is also a late report of Army requests for information re the Missouri's casement and iron attachment design for use in a hardened gun battery at Galveston. This after Lt. Carter apparently pointed out that the facilities for manufacturing a turret were not available. Above all, it was the Army who controlled logistics in the West, not the Navy. If they had new iron for the Ponchartrain, it would seem likely that Army cooperation was required. Little Rock seems to have been their primary logistical base in the area at the time? Someone on this board stated that the Ponchartrain's boilers were in her hold. Could they have been trying to harden her paddle boxes or putting on iron along the waterline? Although a gunboat, I've seen her also listed as a ram. You have to get in close to ram - better protection in vital areas would make sense. Finally, I seem to recall that it was common for Naval gun crews to man heavy artillery for the Army - they had more experience. On the other hand, there seems to have been at least one Louisiana Heavy Artillery Detachment that served ashore in the forts and sometimes aboard ship (Grand Duke). The TransMississippi will keep historians hopping for another hundred years!