CSS Alabama Methodology Gallery

• Historical Background
• Methodology
• Findings
• Credits and Bibliography
• About

• 
• Introduction
• Identifying the Wreck
• Negotiations
• Objectives for Year 2000
• Methods for Year 2000
• Raising a Cannon
• Results for Year 2000
• Objectives for Year 2001
• Methods for Year 2001
• Results for Year 2001
• Ceramics
• Objectives for Year 2002
• Methods for Year 2002
• Results for Year 2002

There were six 32-pounder cannon on the ship, four of which had been cast specifically for the CSS Alabama by Fawcett, Preston & Company in Liverpool. One of these was selected for recovery. Click here to view slide show (requires JavaScript)

Raising a Cannon

Once the gun had been identified, French Navy divers secured it with nylon straps. Air bags were used to make a succession of lifts that brought the gun from the bottom to approximately sixty feet. From that depth, a winch on the research vessel Vulcain was used to raise the cannon to the surface. It was then shipped to Charleston, South Carolina in order to undergo conservation treatment.