Navy divers bring up first cannon from wreck

(U.S. Navy)

One down .... three to go.

That's the cannon count for U.S. Navy divers working from a barge in Savannah, Ga., as part of an operation to remove the remnants of the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia from the shipping channel.

Divers on Wednesday brought up a small artillery piece called a "six-pounder" -- a reference to the weight of the cannonball. It's the first time the cannon has been above the Savannah River surface since the CSS Georgia was scuttled by its crew in December 1864.

The Navy has been in town a few weeks to assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in collecting artifacts and removing pieces of the vessel --  including its guns, ordnance, casemate and propeller -- in the first phase of a deepening of the channel to the Atlantic Ocean.

The ironclad may have had as many as 10 large guns onboard during its operation. Two were recovered years ago and are on display at Old Fort Jackson, near the wreck site. Four have remained in the river and are being brought up by Navy divers, who have recovered about 150 pieces of ordnance and munitions from the murky depths. They'll remove the boat's larger pieces after the cannon are out of the water.

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wreck photos
• Facebook page for U.S. Navy divers