MBT Wheel-steam gunboat USS "Cairo" (1862) - Construction plan Scale 1 : 104 (10.11.064)

Overview of the USS Cairo (1862), a paddle-wheel gunboat (City-class ironclad) from the American Civil War:

General & Design

Type: City-class casemate ironclad gunboat, designed by Samuel M. Pook, built by James B. Eads & Co. in Mound City, Illinois

Nickname: ‘Lead ship’ of the seven vessels in her class, named after Cairo, Illinois.

Technical data

Displacement: approx. 512 tonnes

Dimensions: 175 ft long (53 m), 51 ft 2 in wide (15.6 m), draught 6 ft (1.8 m)

Propulsion: Steam engines with 5 fire-tube boilers, one central paddlewheel of 22 ft (6.7 m), approx. 600 hp, speed 6–8 knots

Crew: approximately 251 men

Armament & Armour

Armour: hull and bridge with 2.5″ (64 mm) iron, forward casemate 3.5″ (89 mm) of railway-rail iron

Artillery (varying in 1862):

January: 3 × 8″ smoothbores, 6 × 42-pdr rifles, 6 × 32-pdr rifles, 1 × 12-pdr howitzer.

November: reconfigured to include, amongst others, 3 × 8″, 3 × 42-pdr rifles, 6 × 32-pdr rifles, 1 × 30-pdr rifle, 1 × 12-pdr

Course of the War & Combat Operations

Entered service: 25 January 1862 with the US Army, transferred to the Navy on 1 October 1862.

Campaigns:

February 1862: occupation of Clarksville and Nashville, Tennessee

April–June 1862: participation in the bombardment of Fort Pillow and the Battle of Plum Point Bend (11 May)

6 June 1862: battle near Memphis, in which victory was achieved – five enemy ships defeated.

Sinking & Historical First

Sinking: 12 December 1862 on the Yazoo River near Haines Bluff. Struck an underwater mine (electrically detonated), was hit twice and sank in 12 minutes – with no loss of crew

Unique: first warship ever to be sunk by a remotely detonated mine

Salvage & Preservation

Discovery: recovered in 1956 by Edwin C. Bearss and his team in the Yazoo River

Salvage: partial salvage in 1960, full salvage in 1964–65. Was cut into sections due to damage sustained during lifting.

Restoration & Exhibition: transferred to Vicksburg National Military Park in 1977; on permanent display under cover since 1980, including a museum for excavation finds and ship components

Specifications: