Tuesday, 11 February 2025
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US Navy divers working in the muddy waters of the Savannah River have extracted the first of the guns from the battleship CSS Georgia. The vessel, which served under the flag of the Confederate States of America, went down during the Civil War between 1861 and 1865. Today, after more than 150 years, her story is coming back to the surface.
Measuring 76m long and 18m wide, the CSS ship “Georgia” was also known as the “battleship of the ladies”. All because the funds for its construction were raised largely by women fundraisers for the “South”. The Ladies’ Gunboat Association raised a total of $115,000.
Unfortunately, the ship, primitive even for those times, was never given a taste of battle and not even a single shot was fired from her guns before she went down. In 1864, to prevent her capture by enemy troops, she was set on fire and sunk by her crew. At this time, the troops of the “North” under the command of General William T. Sherman stood at the gates of the port city of Savannah, conducting the famous “march to the sea”.
Today, the US Navy, together with the US Army Corps of Engineers, is carrying out excavation work at the site of the sinking of the CSS “Georgia”, as its remains are impeding the expansion of the port complex. The work being carried out also aims to protect the national and historical heritage associated with the wreck.
To date, divers from the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6 have recovered approximately 100 shells lying in the vicinity of the wreck. As you can see, the whole process is a serious and complicated operation, which is made even more difficult by the not very clear water.
The excavated cannons and other artefacts will go to the Naval History and Heritage Command, where they will be cleaned and conserved and then form an exhibition.
Source: guns.com Photo: US Navy
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