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    USS Cairo
    USS Cairo
    USS Cairo
    Ebook147 pages43 minutes

    USS Cairo

    By Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Armed with a simple pocket compass, a small boat, and an intense desire to find the USS Cairo, three men--Edwin C. Bearss, Warren Grabau, and Max Don Jacks--set out on the Yazoo River on a cool autumn afternoon in 1956 to locate the Civil War gunboat. What they found was the discovery of a lifetime. Images of Modern America: USS Cairo features a photographic account of the discovery, raising, restoration, and preservation efforts surrounding the Cairo. One can sense the excitement and awe felt by people who witnessed the raising. Today, people from all over the world are drawn to visit this Civil War time capsule now in permanent dry dock at Vicksburg National Military Park, where commemorative events have occurred since 1980; this collection highlights a variety of these events.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 7, 2015
    ISBN9781439654194
    USS Cairo
    Author

    Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner

    Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner, museum curator for Vicksburg National Military Park, has documented, through photography and cataloging, thousands of artifacts recovered from the gunboat. Joyner witnessed the restoration of Cairo from its beginning, in the early 1980s, until its completion, in 1984, and has produced this pictorial volume utilizing images from the archives of Vicksburg National Military Park.

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      Book preview

      USS Cairo - Elizabeth Hoxie Joyner

      Park.

      INTRODUCTION

      Much has been written about the Civil War but little about the crucial role played by the Brown Water Navy. This book was compiled to introduce the reader to little-known facts about a member of the inland navy, the USS Cairo, but particularly of her discovery, raising, restoration, and the continued efforts by the National Park Service to preserve and protect this lone survivor of the City-class series. Ironically, Cairo had been sunk by a Confederate torpedo (or mine as it would be called today). She went down in 12 minutes without any loss of life and was submerged for over a century before being located.

      Many people familiar with Cairo are familiar with her sinking date of December 12, 1862, and planned completion raising date (during the centennial of the Civil War) of December 12, 1964, but not many are familiar with her date of discovery—November 12, 1956—when a three-man search team went out in a small boat, armed with only a small pocket compass placed in the bottom of the vessel. Credited with her discovery were Edwin C. Bearss, Max Don Jacks, and Warren Grabau.

      Since the dedication and opening of the U.S.S. Cairo Museum in 1980, hundreds of thousands of visitors from all walks of life and all over the world have traveled to the USS Cairo and museum to see this vessel and her artifacts. Once visitors see this Civil War gunboat, located in the heart of Vicksburg, Mississippi, they are driven with a desire to learn more about this unique cultural resource and her crew and view the objects retrieved from this sunken vessel.

      Many who visit are repeat visitors, having come during Cairo’s restoration, returning to see the fruition of those efforts and admire the restored handiwork of a long-ago generation. Cairo evokes fond memories for many who witnessed a moment in history as this vessel was brought up out of her watery grave and into the light of day. The U.S.S. Cairo Museum staff have heard countless stories of visitors’ memories of traveling to the raising site and sitting on the riverbank to watch as this huge vessel, which when fully loaded originally weighed 888 tons, was lifted from the muddy Yazoo River. Still, other visitors are Cairo crew descendants who relay stories to museum staff that have been passed down through their families of Civil War naval life and the hardships incurred while serving aboard.

      Walking into the museum, visitors enter into an area reminiscent of a Civil War vessel, as the museum’s walls are slanted to represent the slanting casemates of the ironclad. The museum is in the shape of a triangle and represents war and aggression as does the waffled ceiling of the museum’s interior. A ramp is also a featured trademark of the museum that leads visitors down to the lower level where sailors’ and officers’ personal possessions are displayed, including candles that were still capable of burning, even after over a century of being submerged in the Yazoo River.

      Boarding the vessel, original parts include the outline of hatch doors that provided access between decks as well as much of the original white-oak hull. Situated on the hurricane deck, the octagonal iron-covered pilothouse stands vigil over other remains, which include her engines, boilers, cannon, and paddle wheel. Since the smokestacks were knocked down by the Federal vessel Queen of the West following Cairo’s sinking to better conceal her location from Confederates, they were never recovered. They have been fabricated using a glu-laminated structure. Ghosting is the type of restoration employed during Cairo’s restoration, utilizing as much as possible of the original wooden fabric and iron. Missing components such as the smokestacks were fabricated to aid visitors in visualizing how this historic vessel appeared during her service. Although the original wooden, four-truck naval carriages were recovered and displayed in their historically accurate positions aboard the vessel, they have since been removed and stored in an environment more conducive to their long-term preservation. Reproductions have been fabricated using the original carriage plans. The original starboard stern wooden carriage is displayed within the museum to allow visitors the opportunity to view an original.

      During the days of Cairo’s restoration, specialists in their fields of carpentry, welding, painting, and engineering worked closely together; some were local

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