"On December 12, 1862, the Union ironclad gunboat, Cairo, and several other vessels steamed up the Yazoo River, north of Vicksburg, to destroy Confederate batteries and clear enemy obstructions from the channel, Suddenly two quick explosions tore holes in the Cairo's bottom. In minutes the ironclad lay on the river bottom, only tops of its smokestack and flagstaff showing above the water.
Cairo was the first vessel ever sunk by an electronically detonated torpedo (today called a mine), but its place in history comes from what went down with it. Preserved like a time-capsule were information on naval construction, naval stores, armament, and the crew's personal gear."
quoted from Vicksburg National Military Park brochure.
The exhibit under a huge tent is a mixture of the salvaged parts of the iron clad and reconstruction.
This is the amazing part of this story. Read below.
A model of the Cairo.
Despite its sinking it was a formidable looking vessel.