CSS Georgia to Be Raised (Well, What's Left of It, Anyway)

From the April 19th Georgia Public Broadcasting News "Plan Would Raise Confederate Shop" by Orlando Montoya.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have released their final Savannah Harbor Deepening Report which goes public April 20th.  It is a massive document according to sources and focuses primarily on environmental and economic issues.

Of particular interest to us Civil War Navy folk is the situation of the CSS Georgia, an ironclad sunk in 1864 to prevent captures as Sherman's men approached the port city.  It is still located by Old Fort Jackson.

It lies in the way of dredging and the Corps of Engineers plans to spend $14 million to raise and conserve it.  Raising it is not a new idea as plans have been made for the last twenty-five years to do so.  But, archaeologists warn that it will not look like much when raised as it is in pieces and has had almost 150 years in which to decay at the river bottom.

The total Savannah Harbor and river dredging project is expected to cost $650 million.

Raiding the Old Ship.  Always Something Good.  --Old B-R'er