| The USS Cairo was one of seven "city
class" ironclad river gunboats. Built by river
engineer James B. Eads, they were called "Pook
Turtles" after their designer, Samuel M. Pook. Commissioned: January 16, 1862, Torpedoed and Sunk: December 12, 1862, Raised: December 12, 1964 The USS Cairo has a permanent home at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA. |
 USS Cairo was the first armored vessel ever sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo, which today we would call a mine. Two torpedoes sent her to the bottom on December 12, 1862. She sank in less than 12 minutes with no loss of life. Cairo was lost to history for 102 years in the murky waters of the Yazoo River, about ten miles north of Vicksburg. |
 Cairo now rests under a steel awning, suspended in a fine wooden framework designed to give a sense of her original lines. |
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 There is a walkway around and through Cairo. Visitors can inspect her ghostly remains from inside and out. |
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 The Cairo mounted thirteen cannon, including this 32 pounder Navy smoothbore, shown here mounted on its original carriage. An eleven man crew worked this gun, which had a range of about one mile. |
 Here is the capstan, used as a power source for a multitude of purposes. |
 The black tubes down the center of the gunboat are part of Cairo's boilers. Cairo's engines and boilers have been designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. |
 The City-class ironclad gunboats were formidible vessels. |
 This section of iron bands shows Cairo's hard outer shell. Under the iron was over a foot of thick timbers. Without the heavy timbers to absorb and spread the shock, the iron cladding would snap from the impact of enemy fire. |
 It is both sad and wonderful to see these deteriorated old beams rescued from a hundred years of immersion. |
 Cairo's paddle wheel is a stern wheel, recessed in a raceway between casemates for protection from enemy fire. Cairo could make about 6 knots. |
 Cairo's protective awning looms over her like a sail. Her greatest danger now is fire - there are no funds for an automatic fire sprinkler system. |