Maybe this isn't as bad as you think. As I understand it, the Navy's defensive stance is based upon the fact that they view most sunken Naval craft as war graves and the act of disturbing them a hostile and disrepectiful act. I belive that all of the crew were safely removed from the Eastport. You have to wonder how much is still there. Porter stated in his memoirs that they had been lightening the vessel for days, actually removing some of the armor and the guns as the river continued to fall. I seem to remember it also saying that he had ordered the stripped off material dumped into a deep area of the river so that the Confederates would not be able to recover it.