Mobile, Alabama Museum Receives Cannon From CSS Alabama

From SLMN News:

20 June 2010Museum of Mobile receives cannon from Confederate raider Alabama

'One of the guns of the Confederate raider CSS Alabama was delivered recently to the Museum of Mobile. The cannon will be a welcome addition to recovered artifacts the museum has on loan from the U.S. Navy and will become the centerpiece in the 700-square-foot exhibit gallery that will open this summer. The gun is one of eight that were on the deck of the CSS Alabama, which sank in about 200 feet of water off Cherbourg, France, after an engagement with the Union’s USS Kearsage on June 19, 1864. The gun is approximately 10 feet long and weighs 5,000 pounds.'

Posted by PalmettoPatriot at 10:16 AM
 
 

Captain Rafael Semmes

CSS Alabama and CSS Florida

CSS Alabama at Fort Gaines, Mobile Bay, Alabama

CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

CSS Alabama vs. USS Kearsarge

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Museum of Mobile receives cannon from Confederate raider Alabama


Published: Sunday, June 20, 2010, 6:00 AM Updated: Sunday, June 20, 2010, 8:06 AM

Press-Register staff

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One of the guns of the Confederate raider CSS Alabama was delivered recently to the Museum of Mobile.



The cannon will be a welcome addition to recovered artifacts the museum has on loan from the U.S. Navy and will become the centerpiece in the 700-square-foot exhibit gallery that will open this summer.


Share The gun is one of eight that were on the deck of the CSS Alabama, which sank in about 200 feet of water off Cherbourg, France, after an engagement with the Union’s USS Kearsage on June 19, 1864. The gun is approximately 10 feet long and weighs 5,000 pounds.







(Courtesy of the Museum of Mobile)Workmen pose with the CSS Alabama cannon delivered recently to the Museum of Mobile.

“Now that the gun is in place in our new gallery, we’re all looking forward to sharing it with our visitors,” says museum director David Alsobrook. “I think anyone who’s interested in Confederate naval history and Adm. Semmes will enjoy seeing this exhibit.



“Since Adm. Raphael Semmes’ postwar residence and his gravesite are in Mobile, I think our museum is a logical home for this artifact.”



French and American divers recovered the cannon in 2003 from the wreck of the CSS Alabama, which had been underwater for 140 years.



The cannon has since been conserved by underwater archaeologists at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, S.C., then transported to Mobile. Its original gun carriage rotted away and was replaced. The replacement was constructed by experienced craftsmen from Mobile Public Buildings.



The expertise of these artisans cannot go without note. Original plans for the gun carriage, dated May 1862, were located in England and copied exactly.”



“The Museum of Mobile has long attempted to highlight our city’s diverse cultural history,” says Jacob Laurence, curator of exhibits, “and (we) feel the cannon will give the museum staff a chance to preserve and celebrate this portion of our common heritage as Mobilians.



“The cannon will go on permanent exhibit immediately as the rest of the exhibit gallery design is installed. Visitors to the Museum will be able to view the cannon from a distance while watching as the final touches are put on the gallery that will ultimately be open to the public by late summer.”



Alsobrook says many people helped bring the project to fruition.



“I want to thank attorney Robert Edington for his extraordinary efforts in leading this acquisition project from the very beginning to its final stages. I think it’s safe to say that the Museum of Mobile wouldn’t have obtained this artifact without the gifted leadership of Mr. Edington.



“We also deeply appreciate the technical expertise of Dr. Paul Mardikian and the Hunley conservators in Charleston and the collegial assistance of Dr. Robert Neyland of the U.S. Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C.”



The Museum of Mobile board, under the leadership of chairman Tony Kendall, underwrote the cost for the renovation of our new exhibits gallery, which will include the gun and for other expenses associated with the shipment of the gun. Additional support came from the Friends of the Museum of Mobile and CSS Alabama Association under the leadership of president Phillip Nassar.



“We are all looking forward to the gun being in place and the fabrication of this new exhibits gallery, which will occur in the coming weeks,” Alsobrook says. “We have not established a date for the opening of the new exhibits gallery, and that announcement will be forthcoming.”



The Museum of Mobile is located at 111 South Royal Street. For more information on the CSS Alabama cannon or other exhibits, please call 251-208-7569 or www.museumofmobile.com