This ship (pronounced Kay-Row) was an early ironclad, one of “Pook’s Turtles”. It saw action at the US capture of Fort Pillow and was later sunk by a mine at the start of the Haines Bluff expedition. At the time of the sinking the water was low. The top of the ship remained above water and none of the crew was seriously hurt. It was discovered in 1956 and over the years salvaged, repaired and opened as a museum at the Vicksburg National Military Park. I visited it in 2016 with my wife and rediscovered the photos recently while transferring data from my old Windows 7 PC to the new Windows 10 (sigh) PC.
These armored boxes on wooden hulls were the terror of the rivers in the heartland. Civil War buffs and fans of steam punk might appreciate a look at the ship. Here is the bow, from starboard and then port.
A Yankee tourist posing by the port guns. I suppose damyankee is one word.
The internal paddle wheels.
And for the die-hard steam-punk fans, the engines.
The starboard armor.
It was quite impressive. One of only 4 surviving Civil War ironclads and as far as I know, the best preserved. I planned to visit the CSS Neuse until discovering that only the keel and ribs remain, no armor, no guns.
Edit: a great video about this gunboat here.
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