By
Monday, September 15, 2003
*Beach/River sweep slated for Saturday
-Beaufort Gazette, 9-15-03
*Letter to the Editor: Bluffton Regatta breaks records
-Carolina Morning News, Low Country Now, 9-15-03
*CSS Georgia yields less than expected, but 'it's still a very nice shipwreck'
-Savannah Morning News, 9-15-03
*She rushes to rescue ocean's hurt and helpless
*Bite victim thought sting was prank by friend
-Daytona News Journal, 9-15-03
*Pensacola Bay Area residents will get another chance to weigh in on a vision for the future of Pensacola Beach during a town hall meeting today
-Pensacola News Journal, 9-15-03
carry his challenge to the Spanish Admiral.
The niceties over, Howard at 0900 ( 9 AM ) on the morning of the 31t. of July led his fleet in line ahead against the northern segment of the Spanish crescent, which happened to be closest to the shores of England.
This end of the Spanish ships were mainly drawn from de Leiva's Levant Squadron, and the last ship was Rata Coronada, as Howard in Ark Royal was crossing her stern, her helm was put down, bringing her broadside to broadside and steering a parallel course with Ark Royal. Broadsides were exchanged, Howard thought he was engaging the Spanish flagship, although the Spanish ship tried to close the range she could not magage it, and the two lines of ships were kept far enough apart that no damage was really inflicted by either side.
Meantime, a group of the English ships led by Drake in Revenge, Hawkins in Victory and Frobisher in Triumph fell on the Spanish rearguard, commanded by the Vice Admiral, Juan Martinez Recalde. The Spaniard sailed round to face the attack, his San Juan de Portugal, was
a powerful ship and the largest of the Galleons, the rest of the Armada sailed on, but why would the Vice Admiral choose to fight alone? Perhaps he judged that it was Howard's intent to stand off far enough to pick off the Spanish ships with the superior range of his guns, and he liked his chances of grappling one of the English Galleons, and making it his prize. It seemed that Recalde believed he needed to force a general melee, if the Spaniards were to have any chance of victory, and he was trying to start one up, to risk a single ship was worth it.
The three English ships closed the range to about three hundred yards, and pounded the San Juan for an hour, she could not get at her tormentors, when at last the huge Grangrin, came back with the rest of the Biscayans and drove of the British ships.
San Juan was shepherded back into the centre of the Armada to lick her wounds. The English ships now moved away to end any fighting on day one.
Now Medina Sidonia tried to regain a windward position, he gave up his defensive crescent formation, formed up his ships in line ahead, for an attack in Squadron columns, as they sailed off close hauled, a fine sight, but Howard was able to maintain whatever distance he pleased, whenever the Spanish tried to make a dash towards him. The odd salvo from the British ships kept the Spaniards at arms length, after three hours of toing and froing, the Spanish Admiral gave up, and turned away. His official log read:
"The enemy have opened the range, I can do nothing more, they have kept the weather guage, and their ships are so fast and so nimble they can do anything they like with them."
I believe the English were some what suprised, the Spanish were proving to be both bigger and tougher than anticipated, they had displayed a fine discipline and their seamanship was good, they would need to be kept at a distance so that their shorter range guns in some quantity could not be allowed to wreak their havoc. The only saving grace in a frustrating day for the British, was the fact that the Armada had now swept past Plymouth, and that port was at least safe.
But now the Armada was sailing on quite majestically up the channel, no doubt seeking a rendevous with Parma and his invading army, Howard and his cohorts need to do much better and soon.
The real damage to the Armada was self inflicted, when reforming into the defensive crescent, Pedro de Valdes's flag Nuestra Senora del Rosario collided with another Andalusian vessel and lost her bowsprit. Then came a tremendous explosion, San Salvador, was ablaze on her poop and two decks of her stern castle had gone, gun powder stored in her stern had blown up. The ship was towed within the safety of the hulks or supply ships.
Rosario now lost her foremast, she was taken under tow, but the cable parted.
Medina Sidonia was advised to proceed with the fleet as it was growing dark, he agonised about abandoning Rosario, but in the end ordered the fleet to sail on. This was his first failure, no matter what advice he was given and acted upon, he alone would shoulder any subsequent blame that was apportioned.
Now Howard sought advice, by gaining the windward position, he was no longer in front of,
and blocking his enemy, but was forced to follow close behind. Like his Spanish counterpart, no matter what advice he took, if it turned out to be the wrong action he choose, he alone would carry the can, his responsibility could not be delegated.
He selected the veteran Drake to lead the fleet in Revenge, to seaward sailed a privateer Margaret and John, from London, of 200 tons and mounting 14 battery guns, a nippy ship, she was in fact well in the van, when she came upon a large Spanish ship obviously in trouble, her bowsprit and foremast gone, a galleass and pinnace standing by her.
The latter two ships immediately took off leaving Rosario to her fate. Rosario seemed deserted, no sails drawing, no lights visible, Margaret and John nudged in closer, and set off a volley of musketry, several large guns answered in reponse. This caused the privateer to move away, and set off a broadside, she now stood by until midnight, Howard hearing gunfire sent a pinnace to order Margaret and John rejoin.
Rosario was to be ignored, it was mandatory to keep the English fleet as one, if the Spaniards anchored in Tor Bay, Howard would need every ship in his command to take them on.
The wind had calmed down after the squall causing Rosario's problems, visibility was poor, With very little moon, and Ark Royal following Revenge, in fact lost sight of her lantern. It was again in sight some distance away, and more sail needed to be set to catch up.
http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/091503/LOC_css.shtml
Divers finish survey of Civil War ironclad
First, an iron-seeking salvage team tried to blow it up.
Then it lay submerged for more than 100 years, a hidden behemoth, out-of-sight and mostly out-of-mind in the dark waters of the Savannah River.
Even so, the CSS Georgia -- a Confederate ironclad that defenders purposely sank in December 1864 as Union troops marched toward Fort Jackson -- is "still a very nice shipwreck," says Judy Wood, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist.
Divers had a tougher time with the underwater studies than expected.
They found one of the ship's twin 7-foot propellers. When high-tech sonar equipment zonked out in the first week, researchers used low-tech ropes and probes to probe in and around the wreckage. The sonar equipment was likely the victim of the water's high salt content.
While the rope-and-probe approach yielded results, it was not without its challenges.
"That's not as easy as looking at a computer screen and saying, 'go left,'" Wood said. "We ended up going rather low-tech, and still getting the job done."
They found a couple of big cannons, along with bits and pieces of the Georgia's coal-powered engine.
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It's largely a ship of mystery. No plans are known to have survived -- and only three drawings exist, all taken from northern newspapers published during the Civil War.
The federal government has set aside up to $13 million to research and possibly raise the Georgia. But it likely won't cost that much because of one important item divers had expected to find, but didn't - an intact engine. Instead, it lies in pieces. There's enough of it left, though, that researchers could likely answer why the Georgia was so under-powered that it couldn't navigate downstream -- a fact that led Confederate defenders to moor it as a floating battery at Fort Jackson.
Was it poor design?
Inefficient installation of an engine designed for another ship?
Or was the ship itself overweight?
"What we're thinking now is that the engine was just too small," Wood said. Prelude to deepening
In the end, divers didn't find as much of the Georgia as they expected, probably because an 1868 salvage operation was more successful than anyone had realized.
Salvage workers most likely tossed sticks of dynamite down the smoke stack, hoping to split the ship open for the mother lode of railroad iron used in its construction.
That approach was apparently more successful than first thought.
But there are still plenty of artifacts - and clues - in the dark water.
The configuration of the propeller, for example, led researchers to believe the ship must have had two.
The $375,000 archaeological study -- funded by the Corps and the Georgia Ports Authority -- is a prelude to a proposed river-deepening project that would open up Savannah's port to the world's largest cargo ships.
The study is one piece of a huge puzzle that will lead eventually to a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement, said Doug Plachy, the Corps' senior project manager for the harbor deepening project.
Exhibit considered
If the ship is raised, it'll require money that hasn't yet been collected if it's to be preserved in a museum-quality exhibit.
The Coastal Heritage Society would like to take a shot at raising those funds from private businesses and government, and then incorporating a CSS Georgia exhibit into Savannah's Battlefield Park complex, Executive Director Scott Smith said.
"I would say this (archaeological study) has been a very positive step," Smith said. "We've anticipated developing a private role in Savannah to handle curating the ship."
Currently, only one or two museums in Georgia could give the ironclad the care it deserves, Wood said.
"A lot of it just depends on timing."
What the divers found
- Ship's guns, including a 9-inch Dahlgren, a 6-pounder, and a 32-pounder -- all previously identified in a 1984 dive. (Two other big guns -- a 32-pounder rifle and a 24-pounder howitzer -- were actually recovered in 1984, and are on display at Old Fort Jackson.)
- Large sections of the Georgia's railroad iron casemate.
- One propeller, about 7 feet wide with three blades. Its design suggests it was one of a pair.
- The coal-powered ship's engine (in pieces), including two cylinders (each about a meter long). Pistons still in place.
- The boiler (in pieces)
What's next?
The data collected during the month-long archeological study will be compiled into a formal report over the next six months or so. It will be made part of an Environmental Impact Statement on a proposed deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel. In late 2005, the Corps will release a draft version of the impact statement for public review and comment, along with a general evaluation report. A decision on whether to deepen the river to 48 feet could happen in 2006, officials said. And if the project goes forward, funding could be in place by 2007.