Scientific Assessment of the Preservation Treatments Conducted on the U.S.S. Cairo and Development of Preservation Alternatives: Critical Assessment of Treatments and Analysis of Present Conditions

Hon, David; Taras, Michael

Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from March 29 to July 4, 1863. The park, located in Vicksburg, Mississippi (flanking the Mississippi River), also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign which led up to the battle. The U.S.S. Cairo was constructed at Mound City, Illinois in the fall and early winter of 1861. It was 175 feet in length, 51 feet in breath and 15 feet in height. The vessel was a flat bottomed, three keeled ship, designed for use solely on the western rivers. The ship was constructed of heavy timber, mostly white oak, with additional protection provided by 2.5 inches thick armor plates to protect the front casemate, sides abreast machinery and the pilothouse. Approximate tonnage of the vessel was 512 and it was manned by a crew of 174 officers and seamen. Chemical analysis and scanning electron microscopic studies of U.S.S. Cairo remains, currently housed in the Vicksburg National Military Park, revealed the critical stage of degradation of the wooden fabric of the gunboat. The structural integrity of wooden fabric was significantly damaged and deteriorated during the past twenty three years of outdoor exposure. The major cause of the deterioration was due to improper treatments of the gunboat when it was raised in 1964. The additional thirteen years of outdoor exposure at the Gulf Coast in Pascagoula without any proper preservation and protection measures further enhanced the rate of deterioration. Current inspection of the gunboat, together with the laboratory chemical analysis assessment, found that most of the severe degradation of the wooden fabric was located at the upper level of the gunboat. The gundeck and hurricane deck are still in good conditions despite of its surface degradation. The chemical consolidation of the degraded fabric must be conducted as soon as possible to avoid further degradation and loss of wooden fabric.

Scientific Assessment of the Preservation Treatments Conducted on the U.S.S. Cairo and Development of Preservation Alternatives: Critical Assessment of Treatments and Analysis of Present Conditions

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