The CSS Georgia.The South's WAr Ship

I wrote about The CSS Georgia in March Of 2015.It was my first story to go viral on Facebook.
It is about The South's War Ship that sank in the Savannah River.In 2015 a amazing undertaking of bringing up The CSS Georgia was started.
The deepening of the shipping channel in Savannah, Georgia, won’t be dredging up just mud and sand.
For about the next nine months, divers will be working to bring up the CSS Georgia, piece by rusted piece, from nearly 40 feet down in the Savannah River.
CSS Georgia, also known as State of Georgia and Ladies’ Ram, was built in Savannah, Georgia in 1862 and was originally designed to be an ironclad warship. Funding in the amount of $115,000 for her construction was provided by the Ladies’ Gunboat Association.
The removal of the CSS Georgia is necessary for the state and federal project, which will see the channel go from 42 to 47 feet so massive cargo container ships can use the port without relying on the tide.
After settling to the bottom of Savannah River, the wreck lay unknown for more than 100 years; it was during a dredging operation in 1968 that the wreck site was discovered. As dredging continued over the years, the site was avoided; however, possible accidental impacts from dredging equipment and anchors intended to mark site location may have damaged the ironclad.Today, all that remains of Georgia are portions of her forward and aft case mate and remnants of her engines, including boilers, shafts, propellers, and condensers. Several cannon were found near the wreck as well, along with assorted ordinances.
“She is really in large sections scattered throughout the bottom down there,” Julie Morgan, archaeologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Savannah said.
The CSS Georgia didn’t have enough power to maneuver and effectively trade artillery rounds with any enemy vessels that might approach from the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the vessel became a stationary floating battery, bristling with artillery pieces.
Placed under command of Lieutenant Washington Gwathmey, CSN, she was employed in defending the river channels below Savannah, training her cannons against the Union advance. It is believed she lacked effective locomotive power for offensive engagement and was subsequently anchored in the Savannah River, protecting both Savannah and Fort Jackson as a floating battery rather than her intended design as an ironclad warship. CSS Georgia had only been in operation for 20 months when Sherman’s March to the Sea ended in Savannah on December 21, 1864; on that day the Confederates chose to scuttle her rather than abandon the ship to the Union. During her service history Georgia never fired a shot in combat.
The Yankees refused to take on the CSS Georgia or other nearby defense obstructions.
The CSS Georgia won the battle, but lost the war: The vessel was scuttled in December 1864 shortly before Union forces took Savannah and presented the city to President Abraham Lincoln as a Christmas present. The shipwreck has rested in the river since, rarely disturbed and having weathered the indignity of being hit during dredging a couple of times over the years.
Recovery of the ironclad will cost between $14 million and $15 million, Corps officials said.
Contract divers have been at the site and are first mapping, tagging and putting a recovery grid in place. A network of ropes connects wreck site artifacts and helps divers navigate the river floor.”For every person we have on the bottom, there’s four more people up on the surface that are tending him, talking to him and being sure that whatever he is doing is safe,” said Watts.
While officials have made no determination of where CSS Georgia artifacts may eventually reside, Kingston believes they should stay in Savannah, perhaps at Old Fort Jackson.

“We need it to stay here. It will help Savannah in terms of tourism. It will help tell our story. It will enhance our reputation from an historical viewpoint. We need to make sure it does stay local,” he said
Update 2020:RAISING THE WRECK

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracted Texas A&M University to survey the vessel in 1980, which formed the foundation for further exploration. Six years later, divers recovered approximately 100 cannonballs and rifled Brooke shells, along with two cannons, which are displayed on Old Fort Jackson.

As sonar and survey technology improved, marine archaeologists gained a clearer picture of the wreck site's topography. This technology also brought into focus the damage inflicted on the vessel from more than 150 years of routine dredging, merchant traffic, and its most formidable enemy: teredo worms, which James likened to "sea termites," that destroyed most of the ship's wooden hull.

Divers use multibeam sonar technology to map the ironclad's tattered remains, which are spread over a 150- by 250-foot area. Archaeologists subdivided this area into 10-foot by 10-foot squares on an electronic grid to enable them to record the location of and methodically recover the artifacts.

James said the 3-D technology allowed archaeologists to virtually fly over the wreck site, pinpoint areas of interest and subsequently send a diver down to explore.

In one case, a suspicious object turned out to be a log trapped underwater in debris; in another, it was a fourth cannon that previous surveys had overlooked because it lay closer to the channel, away from the rest of the wreck.

However, a majority of the artifacts aren't visible with the multibeam sonar and the conditions in the Savannah River have complicated the recovery process.

The turbid, cold water limits divers' visibility to 6 inches or fewer and requires them to wear thick gloves, which also inhibit their ability to sense objects. In addition, because the tides can fluctuate up to 8 feet and currents are strongest at high and low tide, the optimal safe diving time is limited to a 1- to 2-hour period at slack tide, when currents slow to a halt.

These factors combine to make the process painstakingly slow. Once on the bottom, the lone diver places a wire basket in the middle of one 10-by-10 foot square, and, while holding onto the basket with one hand, uses his other hand and feet to locate objects.

To the untrained eye on the surface, many of the artifacts look like hunks of barnacle-covered rock, which makes the divers' job even more impressive. A closer examination, sometimes via X-ray, reveals much more.

"Stuff will just appear out of concretions," James said.

As divers recover artifacts, they're sent upriver to Jim Jobling and Parker Brooks, a project manager and graduate student, respectively, from Texas A&M University's Conservation Research Laboratory. They tag and catalogue the artifacts before sending them to the lab in Texas for further analysis and conservation.

PIECING IT TOGETHER

To date, archaeologists have recovered more than 1,500 artifacts, which have provided rare glimpses into the lives of Confederate sailors serving aboard the ironclad.

Archaeologists knew life aboard the creaking, leaking ironclad was not a choice assignment, but the discovery of three full sets of leg irons suggests something more: that sailors had to be shackled in some cases to prevent them from going AWOL.

Another item, a bayonet handle from a P.S. Justice rifle bayonet, model 1861, type II, illustrates Confederate sailors' hopeless plight if they were to encounter the enemy. P.S. Justice products were notorious for their lackluster performance.

One inspector wrote that the bayonets were "of such frail texture that they bend like lead, and many of them break off when going through the bayonet exercise," according to College Hill Arsenal, a website specializing in Civil War relics. Imagine going to war with a weapon that couldn't harm a practice dummy.

Archaeologists have also recovered a panoply of munitions and accoutrements related to the six cannons on board the ship. Brass parts like the "eyes for tackle" and an elevator screw, used to control the direction and height of the cannon, respectively, were still in good condition. Brooks was impressed the elevator screw still turned after being submerged for more than 150 years.

In addition to the cannonballs and rifled rounds, archaeologists raised two grapeshot stands, comprised of five to six golf ball-sized rounds that dispersed from the cannon like a shotgun, and an 80- to 100-pound "bolt" round.

The bolt is a solid, gunpowder-less projectile from a 6.4-inch Brooke rifled cannon that was used to puncture fortifications and ironclad armor.

"With this, they didn't want boom, they wanted a hole," Brooks said.

But amid the fort-busting shells are more delicate items such as pottery, wine bottles, and a hand-polished glass top from a decanter or condiment bottle.

"It really makes our day when we find objects used by an individual," Brooks said. "It helps tell more of the story."

During the June 2 lecture, James said the CSS Georgia also functioned as a sieve over the years. His team recovered several pieces of decorated pottery that predated European explorers' arrival in North America, which drew a collective "oooh" from the audience.
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