Raising of the Ironclad USS Cairo

[Championhilz]

I went by my local antique shop today and was rewarded with these images taken in 1964 of the raising of the USS Cairo, a City-Class Ironclad that was sunk in the Yazoo River near Vicksburg by an electrically detonated mine in December 1862. In this first picture you can see part of the hull wrapped around the boat's boilers. The raising of the Cairo was something of a comedy of errors, and a textbook example of how NOT to bring up an historic vessel. The boat was lifted with cables placed under the hull, which cut through the Cairo, and it ended up having to be brought up in sections.

[Championhilz]

In this picture, one of the boat's boilers is being lifted out of the Yazoo River:

[Championhilz]

In this photo, workmen examine a box of 12-pounder shells that were recovered from the Cairo. These shells would have been used by the boat's 12-pounder howitzer. These shells are fitted with Bormann time fuses, which could be set to detonate from 1 to 5 seconds after firing. The pewter fuse had number from 1 to 5 on the face - using a punch a hole was opened at the desired number of seconds, which would allow the flame from the propellant charge to enter the fuse, and start a powder train burning down from that point into the bursting charge of the shell.

[Championhilz]

In the center of this picture is some of the boat's armor - the armor in question was a field expedient, added to both sides of the boat in an area that was found to be vulnerable to enemy artillery fire. This armor was simply railroad iron track that was bent to fit the curvature of the boat.

[Championhilz]

In this picture a National Park Service employee removes two bottles that probably held wine from the interior of the Cairo:

[Championhilz]

And this last picture is one I pulled from the web of the USS Cairo shortly before she was sunk:

[gwb123]

Don't forget to mention that despite the botched recovery, the remains have been partially reassembled and are on display at the Vicksburg National Military Park.

 

I would love to see this, there were hundreds of these river craft and I don't believe very many have survived.

 

http://www.travelpod.com/photos/3/United%2.../Vicksburg.html