Talking About the CSS Richmond

From the December 27, 2019, Augusta Free Press "CSS Richmond steams into Pamplin Park."

Pamplin Historical  Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier will welcome speakers Bill Walldrop and Mike Nusbaum Thursday, January 2 at 7 p.m..  They will be speaking before the Petersburg Civil War Round Table about the Confederate ironclad CSS Richmond.

They are divers and underwater archaeologists who have explored the remains of shipwrecks from the American Revolution and Civil War.  Both faced risks while exploring the wreck of the CSS Richmond in the James River by Richmond.

Ironclads revolutionized naval warfare and the CSS Richmond followed the famous CSS Virginia as a Confederate warship.    It was designed by naval architect John L. Porter and was launched May 6, 1862, and immediately had to leave Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia, for its namesake city, Richmond before Federal forces occupied that navy yard.

It was completed at Richmond and joined the Confederate Navy's James River Squadron where it saw action in 1864 and 1865.  The Union breakthrough at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, caused the evacuation of that city and Richmond.  The fate of the Richmond was sealed the next day when she and the other Confederate ships were burned and sunk to prevent capture.

The two speakers have an hour-long video on the internet about their efforts with the CSS Richmond.

I would sure like to be at this meeting.

Well Worth Watching.  --Old B-Runner