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

thumb|Photograph once claimed to be of CSS Georgia, later determined to be a forgery created in the 1980s.

Commanded by Lieutenant 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. Archeologists working for the USACE Savannah District, assisted by teams from the United States Navy, 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, had recovered over 1000 artifacts. The removal of ordnance and the lifting of the major remains of the casemates 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 in 1987.

Artifacts recovered in 2015

<gallery>

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

</gallery>

See also

  • Fort James Jackson, CSS Georgia sank in the river next to Fort James Jackson

References

Bibliography

  • USACE Savannah CSS Georgia project website
  • 2015 Raise the Wreck Festival