Salvage and museum USS Cairo

uss cairo in final resting place @ vicksburg national military park. wooden framework has been built support remains of ship.



one of cannons on side of cairo. framework paddlewheels in background.

hopes of lifting ironclad , cargo of artifacts intact crushed in october 1964, when 3 inch cables being used lift cairo cut wooden hull. became question of saving of vessel possible. decision made cut cairo 3 sections. end of december, battered remains put on barges , towed vicksburg, mississippi. in summer of 1965, barges carrying cairo towed ingalls shipyard on gulf coast in pascagoula, mississippi. there armor removed, cleaned, , stored. 2 engines taken apart, cleaned , reassembled. sections of hull braced internally , sprinkler system operated continually keep white oak structural timbers warping , checking. on 3 september 1971, cairo listed on national register of historic places.

in 1972, united states congress enacted legislation authorizing national park service accept title cairo , restore gunboat display in vicksburg national military park. delays in funding project halted progress until june 1977, when vessel transported park , partially reconstructed on concrete foundation near vicksburg national cemetery. shelter cover vessel completed in october 1980, museum opening in november. original space-frame shelter has since been replaced tension-fabric system provide better cover.

the recovery of artifacts cairo revealed treasure trove of weapons, ammunition, naval stores, , personal gear of sailors served on board. gunboat , artifacts can seen along tour road @ uss cairo museum. these include sailor s rope knife in condition.

since salvage, cairo has suffered degradation due exposure elements, bird droppings, , vandalism. there 4 surviving civil war-era ironclads in existence, uss monitor, css neuse, uss cairo, , css jackson.