RECOVERY of an Ironclad U.S.S. CAIRO

The Union ironclad Cairo was designed by Samuel M. Pook and built by James B. Heeds. It was finished in January of 1862. The vessel's commander was Thomas Selfridge. Thomas Selfridge was a dedicated and ambitious man who was unfortunate to serve mostly on doomed vessels, one of which would be the U.S.S. Cairo. The Cairo and similar ironclad gunboats were used by the north during the Civil War to try and wrest the lower Mississippi River from the Confederacy.

The Cairo was an enormous vessel measuring 175 feet long by about 50 feet wide and weighing about 512 tons. It was fitted with 14 guns ranging from rifled 42 pounders to a 12 pound Howitzer. The crew consisted of 17 officers, 27 petty officers, 111 seamen, 3 landsmen, 1 apprentice, 12 firemen, and 4 coalheavers.

After several successful campaigns along the Mississippi River the Cairo was ordered to help support the Union troops at the siege of Vicksburg. Near the mouth of the Yazoo River, which runs into the Mississippi just north of Vicksburg, two tinclad boats on patrol, had spotted a number of Confederate galvanic torpedoes (mines). Upon returning the captains of the tinclads told of the number of torpedoes spotted in the Yazoo at the point where they had turned around. They thought if protected by one or two gunboats the infernal machines could be safely lifted from the water and deactivated.

Selfridge requested use of the Cairo. Also the gunboat Pittsburgh and the ram Queen of the West were chosen to go along. The tinclads were to move close to shore. The ram would follow the two tinclads and the two gunboats would bring up the rear shelling the banks whenever necessary. At 7:30 AM on December 12 they proceeded up the Yazoo in the order designated. Along the way they were harassed by Confederate sharpshooters on the banks. One of the tinclads, the Marmora found where the torpedos were and had stopped to investigate. Selfridge, becoming inpatient, moved the Cairo ahead. The bow of the Cairo had turned toward shore and backed out to take the lead upstream. As she proceeded there were two explosions, one close to her port quarter and the other under the starboat bow. The Cairo had hit two of the torpedos, took on water, and sank in about 12 minutes. The Queen of the west came to the aid of Cairo's crew, all of which were rescued. Nothing was saved except some small arms and a few personal belongings. Because the Cairo sank in hostile waters, no attempt to salvage her was undertaken. Leaving the Cairo in her watery and muddy grave, possibly to be lost forever.

The USS Cairo lay in her grave for almost 100 years until Edwin C. Bearss, a Vicksburg National Military Park historian set in motion a chain of events that would rescue the Cairo and her contents. One cold November morning in 1956, Bearss, Warren Grabau, a fellow Civil War buff, and Don Jacks, a park maintenance man set out to find the lost ironclad and prove its identity. To help in locating the Cairo a mariners compass was place on the bottom of a wooden boat while searching the area where the Cairo was thought to have went down based on research. After probing the area watching the compass for any deflection created by passing over the mass of iron below, the men were able to pinpoint the wreck. The Cairo was found about 30 feet from the Yazoo's east bank and about three miles below Snyder's Bluff.

The next step was to prove that it was the Cairo and not just a barge that by some chance sank in the same area where the Cairo was thought to have gone down.

Three years went by until Bearss and his partners got the break they needed to confirm the wreckage. Bearss persuaded two local scuba divers that diving for the Cairo would be fun. The men were James Hart and Ken Parks from Jackson, Miss. In October of 1959 the three men and the divers headed up the Yazoo River one more time. The water was so muddy that the divers had to work in total darkness and a swift current made their work even more difficult. When they found the Cairo they discovered that the pilot house was the only thing protruding above the mud! They tried to get inside but the mud had filled the inside also. They came back up with only the port covers from the pilothouse and a few planks for testing. This made them want more.

Only known photograph of the U.S.S Cairo, taken early in 1862 while she was being outfitted at Cairo, III.

After a bit of persuasion some locals lent and gave equipment to help in an attempt to raise the Cairo. A lumber company even volunteered the service of a tug and a derrick. But nothing was easy. First the divers spent 10 days moving silt from the pilothouse using jets a firehouse. Finally they were able to pass 1-inch thick cables through four of the portholes of the pilothouse. The derrick then went to work with the pilothouse was first to break water and be recovered. Later that evening a 8-inch navel gun joined the pilothouse on the bank of the river. These were the only parts of the Cairo to be recovered that day.

Seven months passed without funding and much of the salvage interest died. Then Gov. Ross Barrett persuaded several state agencies to provide funds. The Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board were assigned to raise the ironclad intact. Bearss had appeared on a nationwide television quiz show winning the $10,000 jackpot for his knowledge of the Civil War. Bearss donated the money to help raise the Cairo.

In the summer of 1964 Bearss, Jacks, Vicksburg Military Park Historian Albert Banton and scuba divers Parks and Hart began a 30 day survey to determine the condition of the Cairo's structural timbers. The New England Naval and Maritime Museum joined the efforts. Both U.S. Navy and professional divers were brought in to help clear the cleared silt while workmen raised the remaining cannons and carriages from the Cairo, along with hundreds of other historical objects, including many bottles.

By August 3, 1964 the great adventure was well underway. Dredges cleared away silt and debris which had accumulated while the project was put on hold. Divers see-sawed huge cables measuring 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter under the hull. By October 17, seven of these cables were in place and the next day the raising was to be started. Four derricks were positioned on the Yazoo with a combined lifting capacity of 1,000 tons. Much to everyone's surprise the Cairo, with the weight of her thick armor, water logged timbers, and mud filled hull, were to much even for the power of these enormous machines.

Hundreds of U.S. Navy Mustard and Pepper bottles like these were found on the Cairo. The two in this picture are reproductions, selling in the Cairo museums gift shop for $9.00.

Although the ship was not raised clear of the water, it was moved about 70 feet upstream. A barge was then brought in and sank where the Cairo's old grave was. The plan was to sink the barge and then place the Cairo on it, raising the two together by pumping the water out of the sunken barge. Again the huge derricks went to work. Again the total weight of the Cairo proved to be to much. While trying to lift the Cairo onto the barge the cables sawed through her hull splitting the Cairo in three pieces. Now in three pieces, each of considerably less weight, the derrick were able to succeed in the raising. On December 12, 1964 the last section was raised and lowered onto the barge. It was exactly 102 years to the day since the gunboat had sunk.

Even in three sections that the Cairo was brought up in she still proved to be a treasure loaded with everyday objects of Naval life, some previously unknown. One of these unknowns was the matter of food and drink. Evidence shows that the sailors ate in messes, about 15 to each one. Every mess had a special chest to hold its gear: tin plates, cups, spoons, glass condiment bottles, scrub brushes, and a washtub. Every man took care of his own and had his names scratched on each piece. Among the artifacts found were multi-sided glass condiment bottles with embossing reading “U.S. NAVY / PEPPER” or “U.S. NAVY / MUSTARD” on the sided. More than 300 of these bottles were found on board, some containing their original contents. Among other bottles found were whiskies, rums, wines and champagnes, some unopened. Other bottles offering evidence of the medical care. Some of which still contained contents such as potassium chlorite, blue mass for syphilis, quinine, rhubarb, ammonia, sulfur, zinc chloride and others. Many other artifacts were recovered including personal belongings, weapons and ammunition.

The Cairo rested for about 12 years at the Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, before being returned to Vicksburg in 1977 under custody of the National Park Service. The research and reassemble of the Cairo and its contents was completed in 1984 and placed on exhibit at the Vicksburg National Military Park for anyone who may want to experience what life was like on a Civil War ironclad a time long ago.

Among the many artifacts on display in the museum are a large grouping of bottles taken from the Cairo. These include the regulation Navy Mustard and Pepper bottles. Several years ago the Park Service had a number of reproductions of these U.S. Navy Mustard and U.S. Navy Pepper bottles reproduced as its glass blowing shops in Jamestown, Virginia. These bottles are sold in the park's gift and souvenir shop for $9.00 each. They look identical to the originals even having pontil scarred bases. However unlike the originals which were aqua in color, these reproductions were blown in a light yellowish green color.

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