USS Cairo

USS Cairo

USS Cairo was one of the first American ironclad warships built at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War. Cairo was the lead ship of the City-class gunboats and named for Cairo, Illinois.

Cairo served with the Army's Western Gunboat Flotilla on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and their tributaries until she was transferred to the Navy on 1 October 1862, with the other river gunboats.

On December 12, 1862, while clearing mines from the river, preparatory to the attack on Haines Bluff, Cairo struck a "torpedo" (or naval mine) detonated by volunteers hidden behind the river bank and sank in 12 minutes. There were no casualties.


Location

3201 Clay Street
Vicksburg, Mississippi
USA

Getting There

The park is accessible by car, and there is ample parking available. However, there is no public transportation directly to the park, so visitors would need to arrange for a taxi or ride-sharing service if they do not have their own vehicle.

Nearby Airports

This is a list of primary airports in Mississippi that have scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines.