USS Cairo (1861)
USS Cairo
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States of America
|
|
| Name: | Cairo |
| Namesake: | City of Cairo, Illinois |
| Operator: |
 US Army
|
| Ordered: | August(?) 1861 |
| Builder: | James Eads and Company, Mound City, Illinois |
| Laid down: | 1861 |
| Launched: | 1861 |
| Commissioned: | 25 January 1862 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 October 1862 |
| Status: | transferred to the US Navy |
|
United States of America
|
|
| Name: | Cairo |
| Commissioned: | 1 October 1862 |
| Fate: | Sunk by mine, 12 December 1862 |
| Status: | Raised, 1964, museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 512 |
| Length: | 175 ft (53 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft 2 in (15.60 m) |
| Draught: | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 4 knots (7.4 km/h) |
| Complement: | 251 officers and men |
| Armament: | (see section below) |
| Armour: |
|
|
USS Cairo
|
|
 |
|
| Coordinates | 32°22′33″N 90°52′0″W / 32.37583°N 90.86667°WCoordinates: 32°22′33″N 90°52′0″W / 32.37583°N 90.86667°W |
| Built | 1861 |
| NRHP Reference # | 71000068 |
| Added to NRHP | 3 September 1971 |
 HAER Fly-through of Historic U.S.S. Cairo. Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, MS |
USS Cairo /ˈkeɪroʊ/ was one of the first American ironclad warships built at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War.
Cairo was the lead ship of the City-class gunboats and named for Cairo, Illinois. In June 1862, she captured the Confederate garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi, enabling Union forces to occupy Memphis. As part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, she 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, by under contract to the United States Department of War. She was commissioned as part of the Union Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla, which had US Navy Lieutenant James M. Prichett in command.
...
Wikipedia