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A team of marine archaeologists last week recovered a 9,000 pound cannon from the CSS Georgia, a Civil War ironside that has rested at the bottom of the Savannah River since 1864. The Dahlgren rifled cannon was previously undiscovered by several high-tech, multibeam sonar surveys, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wrote in a press release. The ship must be moved for a $700 million project to deepen the river to proceed.

Tonnage and undersized propulsion, combined with the strength of the Savannah River's currents and tides, pigeonholed the vessel into becoming a floating battery across from Old Fort Jackson, where it guarded against a Union naval advance into Savannah.

The armored husk of a Confederate warship is being raised out of the depths of a Georgia river, 150 years after the ship's crew deliberately sunk it. Government officials are pulling approximately 250,000 lbs. (113,000 kilograms) of the warship CSS Georgia's armored siding — the ship's skeleton — from the Savannah River. Crews are raising the Civil War-era ship's remains in 10,000-lb. (4,500 kg) chunks that measure about 4 feet tall by 24 feet wide (1.2 by 7.3 meters). The siding is the last major ship part remaining in the water; Navy divers began retrieving the ship's unexploded shells, cannons...

A photograph that has posed a Civil War mystery, puzzling historians for three decades, appears to be a long-surviving hoax. The mysterious photograph of what appeared to be a far older photo — showing a figure in a coat and hat and the blurred image of a warship — surfaced in 1986. Some historians believed it might be a photo of the CSS Georgia, a Confederate ironclad that sank 150 years ago in Georgia as Union troops captured Savannah.

Archaeologists, with an assist from 21st-century technology, have gotten their first detailed look at Georgia's most notorious shipwreck — the best view since the Confederate forces scuttled the ironclad CSS Georgia in 1864 as Union Gen. William Sherman's army entered Savannah. Detailed sonar scans of the wreck — the only way to "see" anything in the murky, 40-foot depths of the Savannah River — show sections of the ship's armor, as well as cannons, engines, boilers and propellers scattered across the river bottom off Fort Jackson, where it went down 141 years ago. To everyone's surprise, however, there is no...

Divers find Confederate ironclad in 'very nice' condition Monday, September 15, 2003 | Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. -- An iron-seeking salvage team tried to blow it up soon after the Civil War. Then it lay submerged for more than 100 years, a hidden behemoth, out of sight and mostly out of mind in the dark waters of the Savannah River. Even so, the remains of the CSS Georgia - a Confederate ironclad ship that the rebels purposely sank in December 1864 as Union troops marched toward Fort Jackson - is "still a very nice shipwreck," says Judy Wood, a U.S....

History at 40 feet Divers will study the CSS Georgia through the end of August as a prelude to possible recovery of the Civil War-era ironclad. By Charles Cochran 912.652.0396 ccochran@savannahnow.com She lay forgotten for more than 100 years in the murky waters of the Savannah River. But Wednesday at Old Fort Jackson, state and local politicos gathered with historic preservationists to officially unveil a six-week study of the CSS Georgia, one of the Confederacy's earliest ironclad ships. Some celebrated the old ship's value as a historical window into Confederate-era shipbuilding techniques -- and the lifestyles of sailors. Others noted...

Scuba divers may soon uncover the secrets of the CSS Georgia, a mysterious ship buried off the coast of Georgia since the Civil War. The divers are exploring the CSS Georgia as the US. Army Corps of Engineers studies for a proposed river-deepening project.The project could result in discoveries about the CSS Georgia, one of the Confederacy's earliest ironclad naval vessels.Divers will continue their work over the next five or six weeks. The ship is largely unknown even to experts.No one can say for sure exactly how long it was. No formal building plans have survived. Extensive searches of historical...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun an investigation of how to save the remains of the sunken confederate warship CSS Georgia.What is left of the boat now lies in the path of a planned $200 million expansion of Savannah Harbor. The cost of excavating its remains, salvage artifacts and stabilize whatever archaeologists leave on the bottom of the Savannah River could run as high as $13.4 million.The wreck lies in 35 feet of water downstream from Savannah. Sonar readings have shown the ironclad is collapsing and might be slowly sliding into the ship channel."Basically,...