CSS ''Georgia'', also known as ''State of Georgia'' and ''Ladies' Ram'', was an ironclad warship built in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

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 commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

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 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 Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

, protecting both the city and Fort Jackson. ''Georgia'' had been in service about 20 months, when

Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, majo ...

captured Savannah by land on December 21, 1864. Her Confederate crew scuttled the ship to prevent her capture and use against the South.

Wreck

In 1866, the ship's railroad iron 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 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 armored 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" mean ...

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 , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

(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 maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, 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, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, 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 armored 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" mean ...

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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

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 Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat. In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...

References

Bibliography

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External links