Armor - Iron Plating on the USS Cairo

Gun Ports #3 and #4

NPS Photo

Gun Ports #3 and #4

The starboard (right) side of the gunboat shows gun ports number 3 and 4. The iron plating was mounted as part of the sloping casemate that enclosed the gun deck. The 2-1/2 inch thick charcoal plate iron was originally backed by a two foot thickness of white oak timbers. Without the wood to absorb the shock of shot and shell hitting the iron, the metal would have shattered like glass.

Did You Know?

Graves in Vicksburg National Cemetery

Vicksburg National Cemetery is the largest internment of Civil War dead in the nation.  It is the burial place for nearly 17,000 Union soldiers.