Editing Mobile Bay (section)

=== Role in wars ===
During the [[American Civil War]] Mobile Bay was used as a major port for [[Blockade runners of the American Civil War|blockade runners]] bringing in badly needed supplies for the Confederacy. On August 5, 1864, Admiral [[David Farragut]] led a [[United States|Union]] flotilla through [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] defenses and sealed off one of the last major Southern ports of the bay in the [[Battle of Mobile Bay]]. A number of Civil War-era shipwrecks remain in Mobile Bay, including ''[[American Diver]]'', [[CSS Gaines|CSS ''Gaines'']], [[CSS Huntsville|CSS ''Huntsville'']], [[USS Philippi (1863)|USS ''Philippi'']], [[CSS Phoenix|CSS ''Phoenix'']], [[USS Rodolph (1863)|USS ''Rodolph'']], [[USS Tecumseh (1863)|USS ''Tecumseh'']], and [[CSS Tuscaloosa (ironclad)|CSS ''Tuscaloosa'']].<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks |last=Gaines |first=W. Craig |year=2008 |publisher=LSU Press |isbn=978-0-8071-3274-6 |pages=1–8 }}</ref>

[[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile's]] role as a seaport has continued to the present day, though the commodities have changed through time. [[Cotton]] was the chief commodity in the nineteenth century. During the [[Second World War]], Mobile's shipbuilding industry expanded, and the city's population surged as both black and white migrants moved there for work. Growth has been rapid since then.