27-733: USS Cairo / ˈ k eɪ r oʊ / is the lead ship of the City-class casemate ironclads built at the beginning of the American Civil War to serve as river gunboats . Cairo is named for Cairo, Illinois . In June 1862, she captured the Confederate garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River , enabling Union forces to occupy Memphis . As part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition , she
54-997: A one-room school in Sarpy, Montana . On 30 July 1958, Bearss married author and teacher Margie Riddle of Mississippi (born 1925 or 1926), and the two had three children: Sara in 1960, Edwin Jr. in 1962, and Mary in 1965. In 2002, the couple lived in Arlington, Virginia . Margie died c. 2006 , and Bearss died on 15 September 2020. Bearss was accepted to St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin in 1937, and graduated from Hardin High School in 1941. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1949, and his Master of Arts from Indiana University in 1955 (with
81-405: A matter of speculation, as members of the crew had died and local residents were unsure of the location. Studying Civil War maps, Edwin C. Bearss of Vicksburg National Military Park set out to search for the lost ship using a simple magnetic compass. With the assistance of Don Jacks and Warren Grabau, the ship was found in 1956. In 1960, numerous artifacts were recovered from the ship, including
108-584: A question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. A decision was made to cut Cairo into three sections. By the end of December, the battered remains were put on barges and towed to Vicksburg, Mississippi . In the summer of 1965, the barges carrying Cairo were towed to Ingalls Shipyard on the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula, Mississippi . There the armor was removed, cleaned, and stored. The two engines were taken apart, cleaned and reassembled. Sections of
135-561: A thesis on Patrick Cleburne ). Bearss earned his degrees courtesy of the G.I. Bill . In February 2005, Bearss was awarded an honorary degree from Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois ; Gettysburg College did the same in 2010. Following his high school graduation, Bearss enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1941. During World War II , he served in the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion ; he fought in
162-652: A treasure trove of weapons, ammunition, naval stores, and personal gear of the sailors who served on board. The gunboat and its artifacts can now be seen along the tour road at the USS Cairo Museum . These include a sailor's rope knife in good condition. Since salvage, Cairo has suffered degradation due to exposure to the elements, bird droppings, and vandalism. There are only four surviving Civil War-era ironclads in existence: USS Monitor , CSS Neuse , USS Cairo , and CSS Muscogee . Lead ship The lead ship , name ship , or class leader
189-410: Is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design . The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may take five to ten years to build. Improvements based on experience with building and operating the lead ship are likely to be incorporated into the design or construction of later ships in
216-649: The Adelaide class in Royal Australian Navy service. Ed Bearss Edwin Cole Bearss (26 June 1923 – 15 September 2020) was a historian of the American Civil War , tour guide, and United States Marine Corps veteran of World War II . On 26 June 1923, Edwin Cole Bearss was born in Billings, Montana . He was raised working on his grandfather's ranch near Hardin, Montana , and attended
243-793: The Department of the Interior awarded him the Distinguished Service Award, and it was followed by a commendation from the United States Secretary of the Army in 1985. In 2011, Bearss received The Lincoln Forum 's Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement acknowledging his "contributions to the spirit of [Abraham] Lincoln in both word and deed." On 23 April 2015, US Representative Gerry Connolly from Virginia introduced bill H.R.2059 to award Bearss
270-582: The Guadalcanal and New Britain campaigns with the 1st Marine Division . In 1943, Bearss caught malaria in the South Pacific , and was sent to New Zealand to recover. On 2 January 1944 with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines at the Battle of Cape Gloucester , Bearss was hit by Imperial Japanese Army machine-gun fire that broke both of his arms and injured his heel and buttocks; after spending
297-580: The Vicksburg campaign , as well as the wreck of USS Cairo . He also found two lost forts in Grand Gulf, Mississippi , and was party to "the establishment of Grand Gulf as a state military monument." Bearss was the NPS' chief historian from 1981–1994, and "special assistant to the director for military sites" until 1995; in 1991, he was made the NPS' chief historian of military sites. Bearss
SECTION 10
#1732797931991324-446: The 8 in (203 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns were fairly modern, most of the other original weapons were antiquated, such as the 32-pounders, or modified, such as the 42-pounder "rifles". These were old smoothbores that had been made into rifles . The 42-pounder weapons were of particular concern to military commanders because they were structurally weaker and more prone to exploding than purpose-built rifled cannons. Additionally,
351-702: The Bearss Fellowship Award in his honor; it "supports NPS employees' graduate-level studies in American History or American Studies and is administered in partnership with the National Park Foundation ". The Company of Military Historians made Bearss a fellow of that group in 1964, and he received the Nevins-Freeman Award in 1980 for his work on American Civil War (ACW) history. Three years later,
378-434: The class, so it is rare to have vessels that are identical. The second and later ships are often started before the first one is completed, launched and tested. Nevertheless, building copies is still more efficient and cost effective than building prototypes , and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes be retrofitted to
405-445: The close confines of combat on the rivers greatly increased the threat of boarding parties. The 12-pounder howitzer was equipped to address that concern and was not used in regular combat. Over the years, the gunboat was forgotten and slowly covered by silt and sand. Impacted in mud, Cairo became a time capsule in which her unique, historical artifacts were preserved against corrosion and biological degradation. Her whereabouts became
432-679: The hull were braced internally and a sprinkler system was operated continually to keep the white oak structural timbers from warping and checking . On 3 September 1971, Cairo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing the National Park Service to accept the title to Cairo and restore the gunboat for display in Vicksburg National Military Park . Delays in funding
459-494: The lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned for shakedown testing before following ships are completed, making the lead ship a combination of template and prototype, rather than expending resources on a prototype that will never see actual use. Ship classes are typically named in one of two ways; echoing the name of the lead ship, such as the Pennsylvania -class battleships , whose lead ship
486-756: The next 26 months in hospital, he left the Marines in March 1946 with the rank of corporal . In 1955, Bearss began working for the National Park Service (NPS) in Vicksburg, Mississippi . He prepared historical studies for the Interior Department agency and founded the Mississippi Civil War Roundtable. For the NPS, he found the Civil War-era cannon Widow Blakely (also Whistling Dick ) which had been used in
513-484: The occupation of Clarksville, Tennessee , 17 February 1862, and of Nashville, Tennessee , 25 February, Cairo stood down the river on 12 April, escorting mortar boats to begin the lengthy operations against Fort Pillow. An engagement with Confederate gunboats at Plum Point Bend on 11 May, marked a series of blockading and bombardment activities which culminated into the abandonment of the fort by its defenders on 4 June. On 6 June 1862, two days later, Cairo joined in
540-591: The pilothouse and an 8-inch cannon, both preserved by the Yazoo River mud. With support from the State of Mississippi , State Senator H.V. Cooper and local authorities, the gunboat was salvaged from the bottom of the river. Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October 1964, when the 3-inch cables being used to lift Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became
567-574: The project halted progress until June 1977, when the vessel was transported to the park and partially reconstructed on a concrete foundation near the Vicksburg National Cemetery . A shelter to cover the vessel was completed in October 1980, with the museum opening in November. The original space-frame shelter has since been replaced by a tension-fabric system to provide better cover. The recovery of artifacts from Cairo revealed
SECTION 20
#1732797931991594-586: The river, preparatory to the attack on Haines Bluff , Cairo struck a "torpedo" (or naval mine ) detonated by volunteers hidden behind the river bank and sank in 12 minutes. There were no casualties. Like many of the Mississippi theatre ironclads, Cairo had her armament changed over the life of the vessel. To speed up her entrance into the service, Cairo and the other City-class ships were fitted with whatever weapons were on hand, then had their weapons upgraded as new pieces were made available. Though
621-419: The triumph of seven Union ships and a tug over eight Confederate gunboats off Memphis. Five of the opposing gunboats were sunk or run ashore during this action; two were seriously damaged, and one managed to escape. That night, Union forces occupied the city. Cairo returned to patrol on the Mississippi until 21 November, when she joined the Yazoo Pass Expedition . On 12 December 1862, while clearing mines from
648-633: Was USS Pennsylvania , and the Olympic class , whose lead ship was RMS Olympic , or defining a theme by which vessels in the class are named, as in the Royal Navy 's Tribal-class frigates , named after tribes of the world, such as HMS Mohawk . If a ship class is produced for another navy, the first active unit will become the lead ship for that navy; for example, the Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigates are known as
675-730: Was also a commentator featured in the Ken Burns series, The Civil War . Bearss retired from the NPS on 30 September 1995, though he continued to lead tours of ACW battlefields for the Smithsonian Institution , the National Geographic Society , the National Trust for Historic Preservation , and Civil War Roundtables . The NPS awarded him the unique title of National Park Service Historian Emeritus. Frances and Roger G. Kennedy endowed
702-584: Was commissioned as part of the Union Army 's Western Gunboat Flotilla , which had US Navy Lieutenant James M. Prichett in command. Cairo served with the Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers , and their tributaries until she was transferred to the Navy on 1 October 1862, with the other river gunboats. She was commanded by Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote . Active in
729-506: Was sunk on 12 December 1862, while clearing mines for the attack on Haines Bluff . Cairo was the first ship ever to be sunk by a mine remotely detonated by hand. The remains of Cairo can be viewed at Vicksburg National Military Park with a museum of its weapons and naval stores. Cairo was built by James Eads and Co., Mound City, Illinois , in 1861, under contract to the United States Department of War . She
#990009