The Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia was a seldom-seen 250-foot locomotive powered ram built by subscription from the Ladies’ Gunboat Association of Savannah in 1862-63. She haunted the river systems around that Peachtree State town, never firing a shot in battle, until the night of 21 Dec. 1864 when she was fired to prevent her from falling into Sherman’s hands.
Ah the fakery
She made news last year when a man disclosed that the only known photo of her in existence was faked back in 1986.
Well, the real deal ship has been the subject of a joint recovery effort by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who have been raising it before it was destroyed in a Corps harbor expansion of Savannah.
It appears that Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6, working alongside the Naval History and Heritage Command, have had their hands full with UXO.
“We have already recovered upwards of 100 pieces of unexploded ordnance and discarded military munitions from the river bottom,” said Chief Warrant Officer Jason Potts, on-scene diving and salvage commander. “Once this portion is wrapped up, we can move on to cannon recovery and large artifact removal.”
Here’s some B-roll for you:
SAVANNAH, Ga. (July 11, 2015) Navy Divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technicians from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6, in conjunction with archaeologists, conservationists, Naval History and Heritage Command, and the US Army Corps of Engineers, are diving the Savannah river in support of the salvage of Civil War Ironclad CSS Georgia. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse A. Hyatt/Released)
