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| This Dahlgren was raised on Sept. 15 (USACE photo) |
Recovery of
the remnants of the CSS Georgia in Savannah has yielded another archaeological treasure: A third Dahlgren gun.
It’s known
that the Confederate ironclad, which was part of the Georgia city’s defenses,
had at least 10 guns at some point – but no one knew exactly how many were on
board when the vessel was scuttled in December 1864.
Two guns were
found years ago and sit outside Old Fort Jackson nearby. A U.S. Navy diving
team this summer salvaged four guns, including one 9,000-pound Dahlgren, two Brooke rifles
and a smaller gun.
Now there’s a
seventh gun. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Russell Wicke said that the
massive Dahlgren brought up Tuesday was a bit of a surprise because it apparently
evaded earlier archaeological and sonar surveys because it was deeper in the
muck. It was scooped
up by a large grapple that went into use this week.
Jim Jobling, a project manager with Texas A&M University's Conservation Laboratory, theorized a second Dahlgren would be found, according to an Army Corps article. A wartime manifest of the ship didn't mention them.
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