U.S.S. CAIRO Gunboat and Museum
The U.S.S. Cairo was one of seven ironclad gunboats named in honor of towns along the
upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers. These powerful ironclads were formidable vessels, each
mounting thirteen big guns (cannon). On them rested in large part, Northern hopes to
regain control of the lower Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. |
![USS Cairo, city class Union gunboat](cgboatbw.jpg) |
The "city class" gunboats were
designed by Samuel M. Pook and built by river engineer James B. Eads. Cairo was constructed at Mound City,
Illinois, and commissioned in January 1862. The Cairo was destined to see only limited
action in the engagement at Plum Point in May and in the battle of Memphis in June. Her
most significant action came six months later when she kept a rendezvous with destiny. |
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The Cairo's skipper, Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr., was rash
and ambitious, a stern disciplinarian, but an aggressive and promising young officer. On
the cold morning of December 12, 1862, Selfridge led a small flotilla up the Yazoo River,
north of Vicksburg, to destroy Confederate batteries and clear the channel of torpedoes
(underwater mines). As the Cairo reached a point seven miles north of Vicksburg the
flotilla came under fire and Selfridge ordered the guns to ready. As the gunboat turned
towards shore disaster struck. Cairo was rocked by two explosions in quick succession
which tore gaping holes in the ship's hull. Within twelve minutes the ironclad sank into
six (6) fathoms (36 feet) of water without any loss of life. Cairo became the first ship
in history to be sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo. |
![](torpedo2.jpg) |
Over the years the gunboat was soon forgotten
and her watery grave was slowly covered by a shroud of silt and sand. Impacted in mud,
Cairo became a time capsule in which her priceless artifacts were preserved. Her
whereabouts became a matter of speculation as members of the crew had died and local
residents were unsure of the location. By studying
contemporary documents and maps, Edwin C. Bearss, Historian at Vicksburg National Military
Park, was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck. With the help of a pocket
compass and iron bar probes, Bearss and two companions, Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, set
out to discover the grave of the Cairo in 1956. The three searchers were reasonably
convinced they had found the Cairo, but three years lapsed before divers brought up
armored port covers to positively confirm the find. A heavy accumulation of silt, swift
current, and the ever-muddy river deterred the divers as they explored the gunboat. Local
enthusiasm and interest began to grow in 1960 with the recovery of the pilothouse, an
8-inch smoothbore cannon, its white oak carriage and other artifacts well preserved by the
Yazoo mud. With financial support from the State of Mississippi, the Warren County Board
of Supervisors and funds raised locally, efforts to salvage the gunboat began in earnest.
Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts
intact were crushed in October of 1964 when the three inch cables being used to lift the
Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the
vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut the Cairo into three sections. By the end
of December the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg. In the summer
of 1965 the barges carrying the Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in
Pascagula, Mississippi. There the armor was removed, cleaned and stored. The two engines
were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of the hull were braced internally and
a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from
warping and checking. |
![](cgunboat.jpg) |
In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to
accept title to the Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National
Military Park. Delays in funding the project halted progress until June of 1977, when the
vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation
near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. |
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Last update: Friday, November 05, 1999
http://www.nps.gov/vick/cairo/cairo.htm
Editor: G. Zeman |
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