Eastport, a well modeled, fast Mississippi River steamer built at New Albany, Ind., in 1852, was acquired by Navy in January 1862 and underwent conversion to an ironclad gunboat at Cerro Gordo on the Tennessee River prior to duty with Lt. I. N. Brown's flotilla. Her alterations were about half completed when on 7 February 1862 she was captured by the Union gunboats, Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexington, together with the materials to finish the job.
Eastport was sent in to Cairo, 111., and her conversion finished. She then served with the Union Army until 1 October 1862 when the ships of the Western Flotilla were turned over to the Navy and renamed the Mississippi Squadron. Eastport steamed on western waters until sunk on 15 April 1864 in the Red River by a Confederate torpedo. Efforts to salvage her failed and she was blown up and destroyed to prevent capture on 26 April 1864.
It has been suggested that Eastport may conceivably have been C. E. Hillman formerly, since Hillman's main particulars are said to match her description before iron plating.
