The Sinking of Cairo

The Sinking of Cairo (HM1OF0)

Location: Vicksburg, MS 39183 Warren County
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Country: United States of America
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N 32° 22.539', W 90° 52.004'

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Inscription
On December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River, a Confederate torpedo tore open Cairo's bow. The Union gunboat sank in 12 minutes. Cairo became the first armored warship sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

The torpedo which sank Cairo was a crude apparatus. Lieutenant Commander Selfridge may have been less than cautious in waters known to contain torpedoes becasue so many of the Confederate weapons had been duds.

Two Confederate sailors, Acting Masters Zedekiah McDaniel and Francis M. Ewing, had charge of placing the torpedoes. Volunteers, whose names are lost to history, hid behind the river bank and detonated the explosive with an electric charge.

The damage from the blast can be seen on the port bow.

(captions)
This drawing represents the Confederate torpedo (a mine in today's language) that sank Cairo. It is taken from a sketch which accompanied an official Union report of the incident.

Wood Float/Wires to galvanic cell on shore/5-gallon glass demihohn filled with black powder/Rope to shore/Anchor
Details
HM NumberHM1OF0
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 5th, 2015 at 9:04am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15S E 700692 N 3584076
Decimal Degrees32.37565000, -90.86673333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 32° 22.539', W 90° 52.004'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds32° 22' 32.34" N, 90° 52' 0.24" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)601
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Cairo Museum Cir, Vicksburg MS 39183, US
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