Saturday, July 25, 2015

Navy salvages cannon from wreck of Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia

Via Billy


The U.S. Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV) is providing vital salvage assistance to recover historical artifacts, including cannon, from the wreckage of the Civil War-era CSS Georgia in Savannah, GA, harbor, reports Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

Built in Savannah, Georgia in 1862 (with the help of $115,000 in funding from the Ladies' Gunboat Association) the CSS Georgia, was designed to be an ironclad warship and was deployed to defend the river channels below Savannah, using her cannons to prevent a Union advance on the city from the sea. However, her steam engines turned out to lack sufficient power for offensive use and she was then anchored in the Savannah River as a floating battery, protecting both the city and Fort Jackson. When the Georgia had been in service about 20 months, Savannah was taken by land on December 21, 1864, the crew scuttled her to prevent her capture.

7 comments:

  1. Raise her, clean her up, outfit her with the latest weaponry and send her up the Potomac to start shelling DC!

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  2. "Raise her, clean her up, outfit her with the latest weaponry and send her up the Potomac to ban her". After all, she is Confederate.

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  3. Why is the US Navy paying for salvage operations on a historical preservation site? This has no salvage value to the US taxpayers. We already have enough civil war cannons for every museum that wants them. maybe it's because the US Navy has too many ships.

    --Genericviews

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