Early on the morning of 28 August, , USS "Wabash", and USS "Cumberland" began to bombard Fort Clark, while the lighter warships accompanied the transports to a point about three miles (about 5 km) to the east, where the troops began disembarking. Stringham kept his ships moving in a loop, with "Wabash" towing "Cumberland". About 11:00 a.m., USS "Susquehanna" "made her number" and joined in. The ships would deliver their broadsides against the fort, move back out of range to reload, and then come back in to fire again. By remaining in motion, they did not let the artillerymen in the fort correct their aim between shots, and thereby negated much of the traditional advantage of shore-based guns over those on ships. This tactic had been used previously by the British and French at the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War, but this was the first time it was used by the US Navy.