CSS ''Georgia'', also known as ''State of Georgia'' and ''Ladies' Ram'', was an

ironclad An ironclad was a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by iron armour, steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or ince ...

warship built in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

in 1862 during the American Civil War. The Ladies' Gunboat Association raised $115,000 for her construction to defend the port city of Savannah.

Service history

Commanded by

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Washington Gwathmey, CSN, the new warship was employed to defend the river channels below Savannah, using her cannons to prevent a Union advance on the city from the sea. When her steam engines turned out to lack sufficient power for offensive use, ''Georgia'' was anchored in the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...

as a

floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History During the Capture of Mahdia (1550), capture of Mahdia in 1550, Spanish c ...

, protecting both the city and Fort Jackson. ''Georgia'' had been in service about 20 months, when Sherman's March to the Sea captured Savannah by land on December 21, 1864. Her

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

crew scuttled the ship to prevent her capture and use against the South.

Wreck

In 1866, the ship's railroad track iron rail armor was partially salvaged and the wooden hull was shattered by the underwater charges used to remove it. The wreck was then left alone and forgotten. In 1968 ''Georgia'' was rediscovered during a

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...

operation of the Savannah River. The wreck was left untouched, although accidental impacts from dredging equipment and the anchors marking the site location may have damaged what remained. By 1992, all that was survived were portions of her forward and aft

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

s and parts of her engines, including the boilers, shafts, propellers, and condensers. Several of her cannon were located nearby, along with assorted ordnance. In May 2012 the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

(USACE) budgeted $14 million to raise the remains of the ironclad to allow for further dredging. Archeologists working for the USACE Savannah District, assisted by teams from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, raised a section of ''Georgia'' on November 12, 2013. Further relics are being recovered during an ongoing nine-month salvage operation in 2015, as an initiative to upgrade waterway access for deep sea vessels requires its dredging to . As of April 2015, USACE, with archaeologists from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, had recovered over 1000 artifacts. The removal of ordnance and the lifting of the major remains of the

casemates A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...

and machinery occurred in June–August 2015. In the 1980s, a photograph was discovered that allegedly shows the ''Georgia'', but it was later discovered to be fake. ''Georgia'' was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987.

Artifacts recovered in 2015

File:CSS Georgia brass artifact.jpg, A brass artifact - part of a wood and rope assembly to move a cannon File:CSS Georgia iron artifact.jpg, Iron artifact (heavily corroded) File:CSS Georgia cannon elevation screw.jpg, A brass cannon elevation screw (still turns) File:CSS Georgia unrestored iron artifact.jpg, An unrestored iron artifact (heavily corroded) File:CSS Georgia restored artifact.jpg, A resin cast model of an iron artifact File:CSS Georgia cannonball and holder.jpg, A cannonball and holder for a

grapeshot In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of a collection of smaller-caliber round shots packed tightly in a canvas bag and separated from the gunpowder charge by a metal wadding, rather than being a single solid projectile ...

References

Bibliography

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External links