BGuthrie Photos: MS -- Vicksburg Natl Military Park -- Cairo Exhibit

MS -- Vicksburg Natl Military Park -- Cairo Exhibit:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. VICKCA_070126_083.JPG: James Buchanan Eads; engineer, visionary, and financial genius; was the Father of the Ironclad River Gunboat. A self-educated man, Eads had made a fortune salvaging cargoes from boats sunk in the western rivers. Retired because of ill health in 1861, Eads' strong Union loyalties, combined with his conviction the war would be won through control of the Mississippi, motivated him to devote his energies to the war effort. It was Eads who proposed to President Lincoln and his cabinet the concept of an inland Navy and it was Eads who built, in five months, the Seven City Class Ironclads, including the Cairo. After the war, Eads earned a reputation as one of America's outstanding civil engineers. His most significant accomplishments were the construction of the Eads Bridge at St. Louis and the creation of a permanent, silt-free shipping channel at the mouth of the Mississippi below New Orleans.
2. VICKCA_070126_095.JPG: The Sinking of Cairo: On December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River, a Confederate torpedo tore open Cairo's bow. The Union gunboat sank in 12 minutes. Cairo became the first armored warship sunk by an electrically detonated mine. The torpedo which sunk Cairo was a crude apparatus. Lieutenant Commander Selfridge may have been less than cautious in waters known to contain torpedoes because so many of the Confederate weapons had been duds. Two Confederate sailors, Acting Masters Zedekiah McDaniel and Francis M. Ewing, had charge of placing the torpedoes. Volunteers, whose names are lost to history, hid behind the river bank and detonated the explosive with an electric charge. The damage from the blast can be seen on the port bow.
3. VICKCA_070126_108.JPG: The Guns: The USS Cairo and her six sister gunboats were built to support the Union objective of wrestling control of the Mississippi River from the Confederates. With her powerful guns, Cairo could interrupt Confederate commerce, batter opposing fortifications, repel enemy gunboats, and rout any infantry or horse-drawn artillery foolish enough to challenge her. Armament -- 13 guns. These include 3 8-inch Navy smoothbores, 3 42-pounder Army rifles, 6 32-pounder Navy smoothbores, and a 30-pounder Navy Parrott rifle.
4. VICKCA_070126_132.JPG: The Chimneys: The chimneys vented smoke from the fire boxes and hot gases from the boilers. The draft created by the chimneys made the coal fires burn hotter. Guy wires supported the chimneys and spreader bars held them apart. A heat-shielding jacket prevented the hot chimneys from setting the boat on fire. The chimneys were also used for identification. The seven City Class gunboats looked so much alike that different color bands were painted on the chimneys to tell the boats apart. Cairo had gray bands. After Cairo sank, sailors knocked down the chimneys to hide the gunboat's location. The lower chimneys were not recovered. These chimneys are "ghosted" reproductions.
5. VICKCA_070126_134.JPG: Cairo's Stores: Cairo carried coal, shell, powder, and supplies stored in compartments in the hold below the gun deck. When Cairo sank, the men saved only what they carried. During the raising, the storerooms yielded a wealth of artifacts, including many of the sailors' personal possessions stored there for safekeeping. The USS Cairo Museum exhibits many of these artifacts.
6. VICKCA_070126_156.JPG: The Steam Drum: The dream drum collected steam from the boilers and served as a manifold in distributing the steam t the engines, the capstan, the pumps, and the auxiliary engine. It also prevented water from the boilers from passing into the engines. The location of the steam drums caused a tragedy on the USS Mount City, one of Cairo's sister gunboats. Since the five boilers took all the space in the hold, the steam drum was mounted partly above the gun deck. As Mound City attacked a battery on White River, in Arkansas, a Confederate shell pierced the steam drum. The scalding steam poured through the vessel. A few men escaped by leaping through the gun ports into the water. Of Mount City's crew of 175, 105 en were killed, and 37 were wounded. Many of the dead appeared unharmed, but they died from breathing the scalding vapor.
7. VICKCA_070126_160.JPG: Steam drum
8. VICKCA_070126_169.JPG: The Boilers: Steam, generated by the boilers, powered the engines which turned the paddle wheel. These iron boilers were built to hold tons of water and steam under pressure. Boiler explosions did occur -- often enough to give the commercial western steamboat a poor reputation for safety. For the men, the fireroom was a hot, stifling place to shovel coal for hours on end. Because a steamboat without steam could not move and was helpless if attacked, the gunboats kept fires burning, and steam pressure built up even when they were anchored. Coal burned in the fire boxes created hot gases which circulated by flues through the boilers. The water turned to steam and passed through the steam drum to the engines; the hot gases vented through the chimneys.
9. VICKCA_070126_176.JPG: The Hammocks: With a crew of 175 men on board, only the officers and mates had sleeping quarters. The enlisted men slept in hammocks on the gun deck and under awnings on the hurricane deck when the weather was good. The hammocks were stored under canvas covers on the hurricane deck. These berths gave extra protection to the hurricane deck during an engagement. At times, the hammocks were wrapped around the pilothouse to protect it during a fight.
10. VICKCA_070126_180.JPG: The Galley: On this galley stove, the cooks prepared food for Cairo's officers and men. Named the "Southern Belle," the cast-iron range was manufactured by S.A. Burton and Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The sailors ate in messes of about 15 men, usually dining on salt beef or port -- the standard navy fare. Many of the pots, dishes, utensils, and condiment bottles used by the crew are displayed in the museum.
11. VICKCA_070126_190.JPG: The Pilothouse: The pilothouse was the nerve center of the gunboat. From the pilothouse, the pilot read the river and guided the gunboat through the shifting, often treacherous river channels. The commander, too, often occupied the pilothouse. They communicated with the engine room by working a signed board or by shouting through a speaking tube. These artifacts are displayed in the museum. Pilothouses on Cairo and the six other City Class ironclads were dangerously expose to enemy fire. During the attack on Fort Donelson, several of Cairo's sister gunboats suffered direct hits on their pilothouses. One pilot was killed, several were wounded, and Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote was disabled. Soon after the battle, Cairo's pilothouse was strengthened with additional interior wood sheathing, iron plating on the exterior, and iron flaps covering the ports.
12. VICKCA_070126_191.JPG: The Capstan: The capstan was a steam-driven winch used for pulling in the anchor, moving guns on the gun deck, and hauling lines. The capstan could all be turned manually. The capstan moved weights of several tons and was braced by the capstan block attached to the keel.
13. VICKCA_070126_195.JPG: Capstan
14. VICKCA_070126_224.JPG: Manning the Guns: When firing Cairo's guns, the gun crews performed precisely orchestrated movements. Each man had his own duties. Safety and speed were of utmost importance. Safety -- because a prematurely discharged round or a bursting gun could cause more damage than a direct enemy hit. Speed -- because the primitive sites and less-than-accurate guns made a heavy volume of fire more important than careful aiming. This gun is an 8-inch Navy smoothbore rigged with reproduction equipment. The cannon tube was recovered with Cairo as were the 12 other cannon tubes. This gun carriage is a reproduction. The other cartridges are original and were found with Cairo. The gun sights and firing mechanisms are displayed in the museum.
15. VICKCA_070126_228.JPG: 8-inch Navy smoothbore on a reproduction carriage
16. VICKCA_070126_231.JPG: The Hog Chains: Hogging is the term used to describe the tendency of the end of the boat to droop and the center to hump up like a hog's back. Hogging occurred under the stresses of the boat's loads and movements because the river steamboats were extremely long in proportion to their depth. They were also flat-bottomed, with no deep beam to give them longitudinal structural stability. A system of hog chains and braces prevented hogging. The hog chains, iron rods 1 inch to 2-1/2 inches thick, kept the bow and the stern from dropping; the thick, wooden braces kept the midships from raising. The starboard hog chains have been restored and reconstructed. The port hog chains are missing. The wood braces are represented by new wood material.
17. VICKCA_070126_236.JPG: The Armor: Cairo and the City Class ironclads were protected by 2-1/2 inch thick armor plates mounted on laminated oak 12-1/2 inch to 25 inches thick. These gunboats were forward fighting vessels; they were designed to fight bows on. With their heavily armored forward casemates, they could be only slightly damaged by a straight-on shot from an opposing gunboat or river battery. Armor protected the boilers and engines on the starboard and port beams. Cairo's port and starboard quarters had been reinforced with iron railroad rails. Yet these ironclads were not invulnerable. To armor the entire vessel was impossible; the gunboat would have become too heavy to float. The wooden decks could be crushed by plunging fire from an elevated battery. The upperworks, chimneys, wheelhouse, and unarmored casemate sections could be damaged by enemy shot and shells. Since much of the hull was unarmored below the water line, the boats could be sunk by a well-placed shot, a collision with a Confederate ram, or, as Cairo proved, by the newly developed torpedo (mine). Armor: Thickness of plate armor: 2-1/2 inches Designed weight of plate armor: 75 tons Weight of plate armor added by changes: 47 tons Total weight of plate armor: 122 tons Plate armor material: charcoal iron Armor plate sizes: 13 inches wide x 2.5 inches to 8-1/2 inches long Wood backing for armor on three front panels of pilothouse: 19-1/2 inches Wood backing for armor on five sides and back panels of pilothouse: 12 inches Casemate side inclination: 45 degrees Casemate end inclination: 45 degrees Thickness of casement timbers and sheathing: 25 inches forward, 12-1/2 inches port, starboard, and aft Location of plate armor: forward casemate and side casemates athwart engine machinery and pilothouse Railroad iron armor: 3-1/2 inch iron rails from forward-most side gun port to the front casemate, both port and starboard
18. VICKCA_070126_244.JPG: The Ship's Boats: Cairo carried three cutters and a launch. Except when the ironclad was underway, these boats ferried men and supplies between the boat and shore and to other boats. These boats took armed parties of sailors up the rivers and creeks too shallow to float the gunboat. They also became lifeboats the day Cairo foundered.
19. VICKCA_070126_260.JPG: The Rudders: The rudders steered the gunboat. They were controlled by steering cables attached to the wheel in the pilothouse. A gunboat would be disabled if a shot cut the steering cables. Long pins called gudgeons attached the rudders to pintels on the rudder posts. If damaged, the rudder could easily be removed for repairs.
20. VICKCA_070126_267.JPG: The Paddle Wheel: Cairo's paddle wheel propelled the gunboat at a speed of 6 knots. The paddle wheel was placed within the raceway between the casemates to protect it from enemy cannon fire. This paddle wheel is a recessed wheel similar to the well-known stern wheel. The buckets were probably made of uniform-length wood and could have been easily replaced when damaged.
21. VICKCA_070126_293.JPG: The paddle wheel
22. VICKCA_070126_297.JPG: The Officers' Quarters: Officers ate and slept separately from the enlisted men. The officers; quarters were on the gun deck port and starboard of the paddle wheel. In this location, they escaped the heat of the fireroom and the boilers. The captain's quarters were directly aft of the paddle wheel. During the salvage of Cairo, this part of the gunboat was destroyed.
23. VICKCA_070126_299.JPG: The Wheelhouse: The protective casing around the paddle wheel was called the wheelhouse. This unarmored structure was particularly vulnerable to plunging cannon fire. The head (latrine) containing a shower head and commode, was in a small building attached to the port side of the wheelhouse. Water from the paddle wheel fed the shower and washed away the waste. Ghosting: The light-colored glu-laminated wood framing represents the "ghost" of Cairo's structure that has not survived. It has been built to support the original fabric of Cairo and to indicate the original appearance of the gunboat. Other structures ghosted on Cairo's hurricane deck include the center ridge beam and stanchions which supported the canvas awnings shading the hurricane deck.
24. VICKCA_070126_305.JPG: The Engines: Steam engines powered the machines of the 19th century, and steam engines propelled the ironclad gunboats. Steam produced in the boilers was concentrated in the steam drum and passed through a throttle to drive the pistons of the engine. A connecting pitman arm turned the crank of the paddle wheel. Cairo's two engines were controlled separately. By manipulating the cam rods by means of lifters or "hooks," the engineers could engage, reverse, or disengage the paddle wheel.
25. VICKCA_070126_316.JPG: The Cairo museum
26. VICKCA_070126_328.JPG: The USS Cairo
27. VICKCA_070126_341.JPG: The Skylights: The skylights provided light for the gun deck and the engine room and for inspection of the paddle wheel. The frame of the skylights has been ghosted with the light-colored glu-laminated wood. During the southern summer, Cairo below decks was oppressively hot. The heat from the boilers worsened the stifling conditions. The skylights and funnels vented some of the heat; fresh air came in through the gun ports.
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Wikipedia Description: USS Cairo (1861)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

USS Cairo was an ironclad river gunboat in the Union Navy. She was the capital ship of the "City class" ironclad gunboats, also called Cairo class. Cairo was the first ship sunk by a naval mine, on December 12, 1862 in the Yazoo River.

Service in the American Civil War:
Cairo was built in 1861 by James Eads and Co., Mound City, Illinois, under contract to the United States Department of War. She was commissioned as part of the U.S. Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla, naval Lieutenant James M. Prichett in command.

Cairo served with the Army's Western Gunboat Fleet, commanded by Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote, on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries until transferred to the Navy 1 October 1862 with the other river gunboats. Active in the occupation of Clarksville, Tennessee, 17 February 1862, and of Nashville, Tennessee, 25 February, Cairo stood down the river 12 April escorting mortar boats to begin the lengthy operations against Fort Pillow. An engagement with Confederate gunboats at Plum Point Bend on 11 May marked a series of blockading and bombardment activities which culminated in the abandonment of the Fort by its defenders on 4 June.

Two days later, 6 June 1862, Cairo joined in the triumph of seven Union ships and a tug over eight Confederate gunboats off Memphis, Tennessee, an action in which five of the opposing gunboats were sunk or run ashore, two seriously damaged, and only one managed to escape. That night Union forces occupied the city. Cairo returned to patrol on the Mississippi until 21 November when she joined the Yazoo Expedition.

On 12 December 1862, while clearing mines from the river preparatory to the attack on Haines Bluff, Mississippi, Cairo struck a torpedo detonated by volunteers hidden behind the river bank and sank in 12 minutes. Cairo became the first armored warship sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

Discovery of her wreck:
Over the years the gunboat was soon forgotten and her watery grave was slowly covered by a shroud of silt and sand. Impacted in mud, Cairo became a time capsule in which her priceless artifacts were preserved. Her whereabouts became a matter of speculation as members of the crew had died and local residents were unsure of the location.

By studying contemporary documents and maps, Edwin C. Bearss, historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, was able to plot the approximate site of the wreck. With the help of a pocket compass and iron bar probes, Bearss and two companions, Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, set out to discover the grave of the Cairo in 1956. The three searchers were reasonably convinced they had found the Cairo, but three years lapsed before divers brought up armored port covers to confirm the find. A heavy accumulation of silt, swift current, and the ever-muddy river deterred the divers as they explored the gunboat. Local enthusiasm and interest began to grow in 1960 with the recovery of the pilothouse, an 8 inch smoothbore cannon, its white oak carriage, and other artifacts well preserved by the Yazoo mud. With financial support from the State of Mississippi, the Warren County Board of Supervisors and funds raised locally, efforts to salvage the gunboat began in earnest.

Salvage and museum:
Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October of 1964 when the three inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut the Cairo into three sections. By the end of December the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg. In the summer of 1965 the barges carrying the Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in Pascagula, Mississippi. There the armor was removed, cleaned and stored. The two engines were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of the hull were braced internally and a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from warping and checking. On September 3, 1971, the Cairo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1972, the United States Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to accept title to Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National Military Park. Delays in funding the project halted progress until June of 1977, when the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery. A shelter to cover the vessel was completed in October 1980, with the museum opening in November. The original space-frame shelter has recently been replaced by a tension-fabric system to provide better cover.

The recovery of artifacts from Cairo revealed a treasure trove of weapons, munitions, naval stores and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artifacts can now be seen along the tour road at the USS Cairo Museum. These even include a sailor's rope knife in very good condition, as reported in Knives and their Values, 4th edition by Bernard Levine.
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