Unfortunately, the CSS Pee Dee had a very short-lived career. On completion, it steamed upstream to fire on Sherman's troops crossing the river. It may or may not have fired on enemy troops. It then returned to Mars Bluff where it was burned and scuttled after the cannons and other items were thrown overboard.
The ship could also have been an ocean-going commerce raider.
To Catesby Jones, 90, of Selma, Alabama, and a World War II veteran, this was a very special day and he was in attendance when the cannons were brought to the surface. His great-great grandfather was Catesby ap Jones, who was in command of the foundry and Navy yard in Selma, Alabama, when the two Brooke rifled cannons were made.
The cannons will now be taken to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, S.C. where they will be preserved. The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is there also. After completion, the cannons will go on display at the new U.S. department of veterans Affairs building in Florence.
--Old B-R'er
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