CSS Georgia
Ironclad Floating Battery · Confederate States of America · Lost 1864 · The Georgia & South Carolina Coast
A Confederate ironclad funded by Savannah's women and sunk by her own crew was mostly raised from the Savannah River in 2015.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built in 1862 with funds raised by Savannah's Ladies Gunboat Society, CSS Georgia proved too underpowered to fight the Savannah River's current and instead served as a stationary floating battery defending the city. Her crew scuttled her in December 1864 as Confederate forces abandoned Savannah to Sherman's army. The wreck lay in the river for a century and a half until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recovered her surviving casemate sections, cannon, and machinery in 2015 ahead of a harbor deepening project.
Vessel
- 1862
- Built locally in Savannah, designed by a citizens' committee led by Alvin N. Miller
- Savannah, Georgia
- Iron
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Steam, underpowered for river currents; served as a stationary battery
- Confederate States Navy; construction funded by the Savannah Ladies Gunboat Society
Loss
- December 21, 1864
- Intentional sinking
- Savannah River, off Fort Jackson
- Savannah River
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Largely recovered by 2015; lower hull did not survive, but sections of iron casemate, cannon, and machinery were raised and conserved.
- Not established
- Not established
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; recovered under federal archaeological permit.
Position
- 32.09° N 81.03° W
- Approximate position
- Savannah River, near Fort Jackson, Savannah, Georgia
General location of the former wreck site opposite Fort Jackson, prior to 2015 recovery.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District
Build history, scuttling, and 2015 recovery.
