USS Cairo 1862 by MPB521 – FINISHED - Scale 1:48 - American Civil War Ironclad - First Scratch Build

[FriedClams]

Beautiful work once again Brian!  I remember seeing a modeler use a Cricut cutter for the repetitive ornate detail work on scale brick buildings - corbel detailing and the like.   Looks like a fun tool to experiment with.

 

Your model is looking very nice indeed.

 

Gary

[KeithAug]

19 hours ago, mbp521 said:

As for my tidy workspace, I try to make it a habit of clearing a small area when I take pictures and since they are such large files, I generally crop out some of the picture to get it to a size that will upload to MSW.

 

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. Cairo looks amazing. Workspace is a 5/10 which is better than my usual score.

[mbp521]

@Keith Black @KeithAug @FriedClams

 

Thank you all for the kind comments. I just realized from your comments that I haven't posted a picture of the entire ship in quite a while. I guess I get so involved in updating the log with all the small bits that I forget to show an overall progress. I'll definitely try to do better in the future.

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

Hello again Everyone,

 

I'm back with a short update. Not a whole lot has been done lately, Unfortunately I have been spending a lot of build time on research and not much building, but I want to make sure that I get things right.

 

Most of the work as of lately has been small projects. I started off with making some of the hammocks. My plan is to cover most of the hammock racks with a tarp, but leave a few exposed for details and some of the racks empty to show other details.

 

I started by using a small square of sail cloth and some rubber screen spline,

 

I glued one side of the cloth to the spline and rolled it up to cover the entire spline.

 

Next, the assembly was folded in half and glued together.

 

Finally, I tied the sides together and added a little weathering to give each one a unique look.

 

This was the first batch. I made up about 40 of these and I will get them installed in the hammock racks, once I get them built.

 

Up next was the stationaries (best guess at what these were called, since they were pretty unique to these vessels). These were were used as attachment points for the hammock racks, chimney support cables, canopies and numerous other purposes. They were pretty straight forward to build, I just used 3mm square mahogany stock cut to length. I added strips of heat shrink to simulate the caps and small eyebolts to the tops for anchor points of the various attachments.

 

During my research and many hours of staring at old (and new) photographs, I discovered that I missed part of the metal plating on the bollards. These look to be added to prevent wear of the timbers from the shoring ropes. I just simulated these with some aluminum tape and wrapped them around the corners.

 

 

Another redo on the build were the deck hatches on the forward deck. I ran across a photo from the salvage of the Cairo that showed great detail of the hatches. Unfortunately, most of these were located on the gun deck, inside the casements and it was too late to go back in a fix my error. However, there were three hatches located on the forward deck, just in front of each cannon. I can find no other information on what happened to the hatch in the picture below. From what I can recall, it is not on the boat itself and I do not remember if it is in the museum or not. However, the picture gives good detail of what they looked like so I rebuilt the three that I had access to.

 

Original hatch from the recovery.

 

New hatch in place along with the redone bollards.

 

Another small install were the eyebolts placed on the deck.

 

Overall view of the forward deck with the bollards, hatches and eyebolts.

 

 

I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how to build the base sockets for the davits. I had initially tried making these from wood, but I couldn't seem to get a consistent size on them. I finally tried making a triangle out of Milliput and cutting the pieces from that. I drilled out the center for the anchor point as well as the three bolt holes that secure them to the casements.

 

I then put a piece of aluminum tubing for the anchor point and then simulated the rivets with small styrene, in the same way that I did the rivets for the armor plating.

 

One down, seven more to go.

 

All eight completed.

 

 

I finished up the fairleads that I started a while back. I had intended to do this back when I initially built them, but it was one of those things that I forgot about until I was looking at the pictures, and realized, oh yeah, I need to do that. To get the rounded effect, I took some 1/8" styrene tubing, split it in half, and contoured the deck to fit in position. I added some small nails for the bolt points and glued everything into position.

 

More nails were added to show other mounting points.

 

Then the gaps filled in and everything painted up.

 

A little touchup paint and some weathering.

 

I also went ahead and added the port side upper cannon doors and rigged them up.

 

Finally, one area of research that has taken up most of time lately was trying to figure out if there was a hatchway from the Hurricane Deck to the Gun Deck below, located between the hog chain supports. To me this definitely looks to be some sort of access and my justification it is that it looks to be constructed similarly and painted in the same scheme as the forward skylight, the long narrow windows, black exterior and white interior. What else could it be? Another deciding factor was the location of the hatchway. If it was indeed located where it is shown, it would place the inboard side of the hatchway wall directly in line with the exterior wall of the boiler room. They could have placed a ladder on the outside boiler room wall with easy access to the hatchway above and not be in the way of foot traffic on the gun deck.

 

Well after I searched and searched for any information on this and coming up empty, I made the decision to go ahead and build it up as described. Previously, I had built these up on the off chance that I could find information on them, and since I went through the effort of building them, I was going to go ahead and use them. With that being said, I put my model on a table in the middle of the room to try and get the same view angle of the model as the photograph that was taken of the Cairo way back when. I did this to try and get the proper location of the hatchway in relation to the supports as well as get the proper location of the funnels. The HSR plans show the funnels located just outboard of the hog chain supports and directly between them. This is definitely an error on the plans. From the snip below I have circled the hatchway in red, and just forward of that you can see the portside funnel, and it shows it to be forward of the forward hog chain support. When I aligned my view angle up on my model with the photograph, this position was correct. So armed with this information, I am placing the hatchway between the hog chain supports and moving the funnel forward of the supports  and slightly outboard so that there is clearance enough for the funnel to rotate a full 360 degrees with out encountering any obstacles. This is my decision and I am sticking with it.

 

Location of the hatchway to the Gun Deck.

Hatchway in place. Note how the walls line up and provide a perfect place to mount a ladder inside.

I am happy with my decision, and di believe that I am on the right path with this one.

 

That is all for this update, hopefully I can make better progress for next time now that my hatchway obstacle is out of the way. I am going to continue to work on the starboard hatch and build up the ladders and get them in place. Then, hopefully I can get started on building the hammock nets.

 

Thank you all for stopping by and liking my work, and I look forward to any additional comments you might have about my decision on the hatchways.

 

-Brian

 

Oh yeah, and the overall view as she sits today.

Edited April 19, 2022 by mbp521

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, mbp521 said:

Not a whole lot has been done lately

Brian, if this isn't a whole lot I can't wait to see what you come up with if you get busy, LOL. Your research plus your modeling skills is producing one of my favorite MSW builds. absolutely incredible stuff. 

 

 The lad using the hammock pictured on the far right must be bunking in the coal bin. 

[mbp521]

Keith,

 

To be honest, each one of these little projects were done in one sitting, with the exception of the davit sockets which I had to wait on the Milliput to harden and the hammocks. So over the past month+ since my last update, this adds up to about maybe seven days at the workbench. Not as much time as I like to spend.

 

As for the fireman's hammock, I think I did get carried away with the weathering a tad bit on that one. This picture is of my first few attempts and I did get a little heavy handed with the weathering powder. I'm sure that some of the sailors carried their gear with them from ship to ship, so this hammock may have belonged to an old sea dog whos seen a lot of action over his years. Sounds like a good story anyway.

 

I really appreciate the comment on this being one of your favorite MSW builds. Given the quality of some of the other builds I've seen on here, that truly means a lot my friend.

 

-Brian

[FriedClams]

Nice update Brian.  Good solution on the davit sockets - looks great.  Polymer clay such as Sculpey or FIMO that will harden in a 230 degree oven in 25 minutes, is also a useful product.

 

Gary

[BANYAN]

Very nice work Brian; as Keith says, if you call this 'little progress' well ....  Impressive detail.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited April 20, 2022 by BANYAN

[KeithAug]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:42 AM, mbp521 said:

I finally tried making a triangle out of Milliput and cutting the pieces from that.

Interesting solution, I must remember that!

[mbp521]

Hello again Everyone,

 

I don't have an update ready yet, but I do want to share a few pictures from my recent trip to Vicksburg NMP.

 

The admiral and I wanted to get away for the weekend, so on the spur of the moment we decided to go to Vicksburg. She didn't care where we went, as long as it was away. So, since I was needing more reference pictures for my build, I suggested Vicksburg and she agreed. Lucky me. 

 

The first day we spent the morning driving through the battlefield, looking at the monuments and taking in nature. By noon we had reached Cairo museum and I started snapping pictures. While we were touring the museum I got to talking to the Ranger at the desk about the boat and my build. I showed him some pictures that I had on my phone and then introduced him to my build log. He seemed genuinely fascinated by it and asked if he could show it to the powers that be. Of course I told him by all means. So while we were talking, I had noticed a couple of models on a shelf in the office behind the desk. I inquired about them and he said that they belonged to the Site Supervisor for the Cairo Museum, but he was off today and that he couldn't let me go back there to look at them. I understood, I wouldn't want some stranger wandering around my office while I wasn't there either. So we talked a little more, I thanked him for his time and we left. That night in the hotel, I was going through my pictures and realized that there were a few shots that I forgot to get. So I sweet talked the admiral into stopping by for a few more pictures. She was fine with that, she wanted to tour the National Cemetery just across from the Cairo exhibit any way. 

 

The next day, I managed to get the shots that I needed and we moved over the cemetery. We walked around there for an hour and a half or so until it started to get hot. We were getting ready to leave, but needed a restroom break before getting under way. As we were literally walking out the door of the museum, we bumped into the Site Supervisor Ray Hamel. We started chatting and I asked him about the models in his office and he was more than happy to let me come back there and take a look at them. They ended up being the Cottage Industries USS Cairo & CSS Arkansas. We got to talking about my build and that we had come here to do a little more research on some areas that I was having problems with. 

 

That was when my day really got good. Ray then asked if we had some time to take a walk with him. Well of course I wasn't going to refuse, so we set out on what ended up as what I would call a VIP tour.  We went down stairs from his office to the air handler/storage room. This is where they keep a few overflow items that didn't make it to the actual artifact storage facility. Once we got down stairs I was totally in heaven. You may recall that at one time the admiral said I looked happier than a toddler with a lollipop, well at this point I was even happier, like a toddler with a box of lollipops. In the storage room were hundreds of cannon balls and projectiles recovered from the wreck, Stacked all over the floor. There were also other artifacts such as a box of coal, timbers from the hurricane deck and other odds and ends. I asked to take pictures, which he said I could and not to push my luck, but asked him if I could handle some of the artifacts. He allowed that as well.

 

Some 8" & 32lb cannon balls.

 

32lb cannon ball.

 

42lb projectiles and Grape Shot

Grape Shot

 

30lb Parrot Rifle projectiles

 

A couple of different 42lb projectiles.

 

Gun Port Doors

 

Box of coal. From what Ray told me, the coal was loaded on board in big chunks like this and then broken up before being shoveled into the firebox.

 

A few other artifacts

 

Playing around with a few pine wood fabric pieces that survived. 

 

One of the knee braces still attached to one of the stanchions.

 

More of the stanchions and pieces of the hammock rails

 

After I was done perusing through the room of artifacts, Ray asked if I wanted to go see the boilers? Again this was an offer I just couldn't refuse. So we proceeded through the next tunnel in the room to the lower level of the outside display. Now I was happier than a toddler with a whole case of lollipops.

 

Take a mental note of my left hand in this picture and file it away for a moment. I'll explain this in a bit, but let me tell you I was buzzing with excitement.

Ray was kind enough to let me explore the entire boat and take as many pictures as I wanted.

 

Boilers & Mud Drum

 

Paddlewheel

 

 

 

 

Port Engine

 

Starboard Engine

 

Port Rudder

 

 

Starboard lower armor plating.

 

 

Starboard hull bottom. 

 

Waterway wall, Starboard side. These boards were in relatively good shape compared to some of the others. This area was buried in the mud for the longest period of time.

 

 

Torpedo damage and bow area.

 

 

 

The bow area. One thing that I missed on my build that I am going to have to go back and make is the bow reinforcement plate. I will have to go back and look at the documentation, but I don't recall any mention of it. Either way it is there and I will get it added. This plate was used to protect the stem timbers from shoreline rocks as well as taking out any makeshift bridges that were built across the rivers these boats were patrolling. I can't believe that I missed this part.

 

 

 

 

I was trying to get a look at how far back the bow plate goes, but the supports cover most of it, making it impossible to see. I do know that it goes back at least 10' or so along the center keel from what I can tell.

I was ordered by the admiral to post at least one picture of my mug in front of the boat. Just because.

 

What an exciting tour this was, and Ray was very informative. Some of the topics that we discussed we the slow decay of the original wood fabric and how the Polyethelene Glycol (PEG) that they use to treat and preserve the wood is doing a lot of harm to it as well. Unfortunately budget concerns have also limited the treatments, with the last one being in 2013, whereas before they were every four or five years. He also told me that he has submitted several proposals for an enclosed, environmentally controlled facility to house the boat in that will help protect it and make it last longer. He said a few years ago that he was close to having one proposal passed, but funding was pulled just before being pushed through. It's a shame that a rare, beautiful piece of history is slowly deteriorating and the government wont step in and help preserve it. There are only four ACW Iron Clads still in existence, Cairo being the most intact one. You'd think that it would be somewhat of a priority to help save it. Fortunately, there are a few groups out there doing what they can to help see that the ship doesn't completely fall apart, one of the being the Friends of Vicksburg group.

 

Other topics that we discussed were the positioning of the skylights, and the fact that the original drawings from the 1981 HSR do not show that there were also skylights (hatchways) amid ship and at the aft of the Hurricane deck. This proves my theory and research that I was correct with the placement of my hatchways between the hog chain support posts and that the two on the back just above the aft guns are also there (these are visible on the old photos of the St. Louis, Carondelet, Cincinnati and Mound City, but more on that when I post an update). Also, he did confirm that the hammock nets on Cairo were indeed constructed of wood, no netting. Some of the remains were in an above picture, along with the stanchions. Great information to make sure that I get my build as true to the original as I can. 

 

So, once were were done with the tour, we went back to Ray's office where he wanted to give me a card and his cell number to give him a call if I had any other questions. As a second souvenir he gave me a piece of coal that was recovered from the boat.

 

Oh, going back to the picture I said to take a note of. While we were talking, shortly before the admiral took that picture, We were discussing the slow deterioration of the wood. Ray looked down and saw that a small piece of the wood hull had fallen off the boat onto the ground. He picked it up and aske me if I wanted it, my first souvenir. So now I am happier than a toddler that owns a lollipop factory. And again, I didn't refuse his offer. That is what I am holding in my left hand.

 

So now my new pride and joys are here:

 

They may not be much, but to actually have a piece of the boat, just brings joy to my heart. I am currently looking into how to preserve the wood fragments from further deteriorating and I think I'm going to incorporate them and the coal nugget into the display.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my story and that I wasn't too long winded. I should have an update on the build in a few days.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

-Brian

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by mbp521

[mtaylor]

What a great weekend you had with memory to last a lifetime.  Thanks for sharing it with us.   

 

At some point soon, I hope the government will provide funding for projects such as this.   It's a part of who we are and how we got to where we are today.  

[Keith Black]

 Lollipop lollipop

 Oh lolli lolli lolli, lollipop, lollipop

 

 How sweet it is! What an incredible opportunity. Thank you so much for sharing your tour with us, Brian. Isn't it amazing how things work out, somedays you get chicken and somedays you get feathers. You definitely got chicken. It's neat that you were able to take visual notes of the bow reinforcement plate and will be able to incorporate it in your build. And way cool to come away with an actual piece of the Cairo. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Keith Black

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  I note the long boiler cylinders in the images, and this brings to mind that the CSS Hunley (submarine) hull was converted from a long boiler body - and can be seen in a couple period photos.  Fascinating stuff, now that the Hunley was found and raised ... a subject for a scratch build?

 

[Cathead]

I'm giddy with joy for you, what a fantastic experience! I've been there, but only the standard public access. So grateful you documented and shared your inside scoop. Also thank your wife for the photo including you; I don't know quite why, but attaching a face to online "friends" is particularly meaningful after the past few years.

[BANYAN]

Thanks for sharing; what a fantastic opportunity that was; especially collecting a few small artefacts.  let's hope they find the funds to better preserve the vessel; if all these small bits keep falling off who knows what will be left in the longer term?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Roger Pellett]

Wonderful pictures!  What a great visit.  I think that you made his day too.  It is my experience that many museum professionals love talking about things in their collection to interested visitors.  I suspect that they are tired of the many visitors who have little knowledge of history and less interest in learning about it.

 

Roger

[bdgiantman2]

Great story, Brian! What an amazing experience, glad that you and your wife were able to reach out to those men at the museum like that and go behind the scenes. I am a little jealous, I confess -- LOL.

 

Question for you: Looking at the pictures provided of the grapeshot, I am guessing that they are eighteen inches to two feet in length and probably 6-8 inches in diameter??

 

Keep up this amazing model, you are doing a very accurate job and I enjoy following this thread.

 

Brian D.

[Cathead]

13 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

I suspect that they are tired of the many visitors who have little knowledge of history and less interest in learning about it.

I used to do public education for the National Park Service, and I can confirm that as much as I loved it, it was draining to go weeks without meeting a visitor who knew, well, anything.

[mbp521]

19 hours ago, mtaylor said:

What a great weekend you had with memory to last a lifetime.  Thanks for sharing it with us.   

 

At some point soon, I hope the government will provide funding for projects such as this.   It's a part of who we are and how we got to where we are today.  

Mark, these memories will definitely last a lifetime. I am right there with you. With so many people out there trying to to erase certain parts of our history (apologies if that sounded political) it would be a shame if this piece suffered that fate. It's is a beautiful exhibit, one that every one should see.

 

19 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Lollipop lollipop

 Oh lolli lolli lolli, lollipop, lollipop

 

 How sweet it is! What an incredible opportunity. Thank you so much for sharing your tour with us, Brian. Isn't it amazing how things work out, somedays you get chicken and somedays you get feathers. You definitely got chicken. It's neat that you were able to take visual notes of the bow reinforcement plate and will be able to incorporate it in your build. And way cool to come away with an actual piece of the Cairo. 

Keith, love what you did there with the pun. 😁 I still have a hard time believing my luck or fate, whichever way you want to look at it. I just look back and think that I wasn't even going to go back into the museum to see if Ray was there on the second day or not, and to run into him as we were leaving. It was just meant to be. The funny thing is that the day before, I was telling my wife, as we were standing at the stern of the ship, how much I would love to get down there and take some up close pictures.

 

The pieces are a true treasure. They will go along nicely with the Adm. Selfridge signature that you guided me to, to go along with my display. I just need to figure out how I am going to fit it all in and show it properly.

 

18 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

I note the long boiler cylinders in the images, and this brings to mind that the CSS Hunley (submarine) hull was converted from a long boiler body - and can be seen in a couple period photos.  Fascinating stuff, now that the Hunley was found and raised ... a subject for a scratch build?

Snug Harbor Johnny, That is some very interesting information. I had not heard of the Hunley being made from a converted boiler tube, but it does make sense. The Hunley was definitely cramped for space. Not sure if that would be on my list for a scratch build. I have several projects in the works once my Cairo is completed. But you neve know, it would be an interesting build.

 

18 hours ago, Cathead said:

I'm giddy with joy for you, what a fantastic experience! I've been there, but only the standard public access. So grateful you documented and shared your inside scoop. Also thank your wife for the photo including you; I don't know quite why, but attaching a face to online "friends" is particularly meaningful after the past few years.

Eric, I was more than happy to share my experience, especially with those that can truly appreciate it. I know what you mean about placing a face to a person. I took over a new group with my company back in September last year. We are a 100% work remote group and I have yet to see what anyone on my team looks like. I like knowing what the person on the other end of the line looks like. Most of us on MSW know each other by what our hands look like, since that is usually all we get to see of them. 😁 I miss following your builds, hopefully you can recover soon and get back to building.

 

14 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Thanks for sharing; what a fantastic opportunity that was; especially collecting a few small artefacts.  let's hope they find the funds to better preserve the vessel; if all these small bits keep falling off who knows what will be left in the longer term?

Pat, My pleasure. I do hope that they are able to do something soon to help protect it. I found an old picture that I had taken on my first visit to the Cairo, shortly after the exhibit opened in 1984. I did a side by side stare and compare to a picture I took this weekend. Over the past 38 years, there has been a noticeable change in the original fabric, especially on the more exposed areas. Although they did try and prolong the decay by building the new "Tent" structure that you see today, it still needs to be in a controlled environment to prevent any further damage.

 

14 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Wonderful pictures!  What a great visit.  I think that you made his day too.  It is my experience that many museum professionals love talking about things in their collection to interested visitors.  I suspect that they are tired of the many visitors who have little knowledge of history and less interest in learning about it.

Roger, Thank you. I am sure I made his day. My wife said that he was just as excited to talk about the boat as was seeing it. The great thing about it was that all I asked him for was to look at his models. Everything after that, he offered up without me asking. The only request that I asked him for was to take pictures and handle some of the artifacts. The tour was all his generosity. And after working at the Cairo for over 15 years, he was well knowledgeable on all aspects of the boat. He even agreed with a lot of the errors that I was able to find through research with the HSR and current display, like the skylights/hatchways and hammock nets.

 

13 hours ago, bdgiantman2 said:

Great story, Brian! What an amazing experience, glad that you and your wife were able to reach out to those men at the museum like that and go behind the scenes. I am a little jealous, I confess -- LOL.

 

Question for you: Looking at the pictures provided of the grapeshot, I am guessing that they are eighteen inches to two feet in length and probably 6-8 inches in diameter??

 

Keep up this amazing model, you are doing a very accurate job and I enjoy following this thread.

Thank you for the kind words and following along Brian. As I mentioned to Roger above, I was just wanting to discuss some of my questions that I had about my build to make sure that I was getting the details as accurate as possible. I hadn't even give a thought to asking if I could get a VIP tour. I guess it wasn't something that I thought that they did. Thankfully Ray offered it up, I was not about to refuse that offer.

 

The grapeshot stand is about 10' tall and weighed about 75lbs (it was surprisingly heavy). From what I could tell was most likely used in the 8" Dahlgren, since it was a smoothbore cannon. I am not up too much on the ordinance (yet) but that is my best guess right now. The 42lb projectiles were about 14" long and about 7" in diameter and probably weighed in the neighborhood of 75lbs as well.

 

-Brian

[Canute]

Wow, what a great tour, getting to see  everything close up. Mr Hamel needs to be thanked profusely. Great trip.

 

Small factoid about the big coal chunks. At least in the anthracite areas in northeastern Pennsylvania, these were "run of mine" pieces. They were hauled by the railroads to breakers, where they were broken into sizes for use in homes and factories. There were 9 sizes, ranging from about 1/8 inch up to 4-6 inches. This largest was called "steam" coal. Since steam boilers back in those days were hand fired, the stokers had to toss a hefty shovel full into the fire grates. Looking at pictures of locomotive crews from that era, the fireman was the most fit looking guy on the crew.

[mbp521]

On 5/12/2022 at 8:53 AM, Canute said:

Wow, what a great tour, getting to see  everything close up. Mr Hamel needs to be thanked profusely. Great trip.

 

Small factoid about the big coal chunks. At least in the anthracite areas in northeastern Pennsylvania, these were "run of mine" pieces. They were hauled by the railroads to breakers, where they were broken into sizes for use in homes and factories. There were 9 sizes, ranging from about 1/8 inch up to 4-6 inches. This largest was called "steam" coal. Since steam boilers back in those days were hand fired, the stokers had to toss a hefty shovel full into the fire grates. Looking at pictures of locomotive crews from that era, the fireman was the most fit looking guy on the crew.

 

Thank you Ken. I pretty much said thank you to him so many times that he may have gotten tired of hearing it. 

 

Interesting factoid, you have here. To be honest, I have never given too much thought to how coal was processed. I have seen hundreds of coal cars on trains and piles of it outside the power plants (in south Louisiana as a kid), but up until just last year I had actually never physically touched a chunk of coal. The admiral and I were at Cumberland Falls in Kentucky walking around, and I picked up what I though was a black rock, but it was extremely light for its size. Come to find out it was pieces of cola that had washed downstream and settled on the flats just above the falls. As for coaling the boilers, the Cairo was documented to burn up to a Ton of coal an hour when underway, so I can see why the stokers were fit, shovel work will make a man out of you real quick.

 

-Brian

[Roger Pellett]

Coal can be a dangerous fuel.  Despite its appearance, it is not an inert black rock.  It is an active organic compound.  There are numerous examples of spontaneous combustion of coal stored in bunkers.  There was a fire in one of Titanic’s bunkers during her disastrous maiden voyage, and members of Admiral Rickover’s staff have made an analysis that the loss  of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor was caused by a coal bunker fire that ignited ammunition in an adjacent magazine.  Cargo fires on ships hauling coal are not uncommon and methane gas is an ever present danger.

 

The combination of coal, methane gas, black powder, and open flames aboard these gunboats must have been a nightmare.  I wonder if the Union supply people tried to furnish less “gassy” coal?  Did they make an effort to vent the bunkers?

 

Roger

Edited May 13, 2022 by Roger Pellett

[johnhoward]

Brian,

Boy you really hit the jackpot this time and your efforts really open the door for lots of additional research.

As you know we were always sure there must have been additional access to the Hurricane Deck. Reading your initial trip comment,I had a crazy thought: Is it possible that the access "Skylight" structure you found in your enhanced contemporary CW photographs, where the Ventilation Funnels appeared to be located, just served as a stairway when the funnel was temporarily removed, similar to our earlier "firebox slag & ash disposal from the fireroom" discovery. Ventilation funnel removal must have been a frequent and easy task as several CW photos confirm, and some also clearly show the Funnel large Flange-section between the Hog-Chain Supports and facing outboard as depicted on Doug Ashley's Historical Structural Report (HSR) drawings and NPS Denver Surveys of the USS Cairo.. The Ventilation Funnel in your enhanced photo may just show where it was being temporarily stored when removed from use! An open stairway would temporarily function as an adequate ventilator shaft. These Civil War sailors were apparently very practical.

  Your descriptions and photos are fabulous and you certainly got the grand tour. Were you able to take photos inside the Museum?

 

JOHNHOWARD

    

[mbp521]

38 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

Coal can be a dangerous fuel.  Despite its appearance, it is not an inert black rock.  It is an active organic compound.  There are numerous examples of spontaneous combustion of coal stored in bunkers.  There was a fire in one of Titanic’s bunkers during her disastrous maiden voyage, and members of Admiral Rickover’s staff have made an analysis that the loss  of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor was caused by a coal bunker fire that ignited ammunition in an adjacent magazine.  Cargo fires on ships hauling coal are not uncommon and methane gas is an ever present danger.

 

The combination of coal, methane gas, black powder, and open flames aboard these gunboats must have been a nightmare.  I wonder if the Union supply people tried to furnish less “gassy” coal?  Did they make an effort to vent the bunkers?

Roger, another good example, albeit not ship related, is the Centralia, PA coal fire that has been burning underground since the early 1960's, and could possibly burn for 100's of years more.

 

As for the gunboats, if I remember correctly, the powder was stored as far from the boilers as possible in the aft pontoons on either side of the waterway. The holds were lead lined and they had special copper clad lanterns to help with lighting, but prevent any accidental discharge of the powder. The coal bunkers were located in the hold, forward and to the port and starboard sides of the boilers fire boxes, I believe these were open to the fire room so they could have possibly vented any gasses though the funnels and skylight located above the boilers. Not too much remains of this structure, so it's hard to tell if there were any other ventilation methods used, but given the design of these boats, all of the coal would have been stored under the floor of the enclosed gun deck. All munitions were stored in the forward holds under the exposed foredeck. 

 

-Brian

[mbp521]

On 5/13/2022 at 1:13 PM, johnhoward said:

Boy you really hit the jackpot this time and your efforts really open the door for lots of additional research.

Johnhoward, how right you are. I am still having to pinch myself at how lucky I was to get to see the lesser seen parts of the museum and boat. A once in a lifetime trip I would have to say.

 

 

On 5/13/2022 at 1:13 PM, johnhoward said:

Reading your initial trip comment,I had a crazy thought: Is it possible that the access "Skylight" structure you found in your enhanced contemporary CW photographs, where the Ventilation Funnels appeared to be located, just served as a stairway when the funnel was temporarily removed, similar to our earlier "firebox slag & ash disposal from the fireroom" discovery. Ventilation funnel removal must have been a frequent and easy task as several CW photos confirm, and some also clearly show the Funnel large Flange-section between the Hog-Chain Supports and facing outboard as depicted on Doug Ashley's Historical Structural Report (HSR) drawings and NPS Denver Surveys of the USS Cairo.. The Ventilation Funnel in your enhanced photo may just show where it was being temporarily stored when removed from use! An open stairway would temporarily function as an adequate ventilator shaft. These Civil War sailors were apparently very practical.

  Your descriptions and photos are fabulous and you certainly got the grand tour.

I am going to have to say that there was indeed a skylight located between the hog chain posts, at least on the Cairo. I have not been able to determine this section on any of the other photos of her sister ships, but I just may not have found the right picture yet. Looking at the picture below, it is clear that there is access way down to the gundeck located in this position. This is one of the topics that Ray Hamel and I discussed at length, and he agreed. If you look closely, you can see that the hatchway door itself is constructed just like the forward skylight with long slender windows and the interior is whitewashed like the forward skylight as well.

 

As for the positioning of the funnel, I struggled for a long time on this one trying to determine if the funnel was located inboard or outboard of the hog chain posts. I have played around with several angles of my model to get the view just right and have come up with their location being just forward of where Doug Ashley has them on the HSR plans. In this position, there is still room for them to rotate 360 degrees without any interference. I would not think that they were removed and stored in this picture, they look to be the same height as the rest of the photos that have them in position. There is one picture of the Mound City that has the forward funnels removed and stood up on deck and they are significantly taller when removed. However, these were over the fire room and may have been longer given that there was no gun deck directly below them. This is just my observation though.

 

 

For the aft skylights, there are several pictures of these. The photos below are snippits from the St. Louis, Carondelet and Cincinnati all showing skylights located above the aft cannons. You can also just make out this skylight out on one of the pictures of the Mound City. Being that the Cairo, Cincinnati and Mound City were all constructed together at Mound City, IL, my assumption is they would have been built pretty much the same way.

 

St. Louis:

 

Carondelet:

 

Cincinnati:

 

Mound City:

Given all of this research, I feel pretty confident that these are skylights and would have been located here on the Cairo as well. These would have provided several places to assist with the loading and unloading of supplies. They are somewhat located above the gun deck hold hatchways that are shown on the HSR plans, and they would have provided mores egress points in the case of the ships going down. Having these skylights/hatchways could also account for all 175 crew members making it safely off the Cairo in just under 12 minutes.

 

-Brian

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by mbp521

[mbp521]

5 hours ago, johnhoward said:

Were you able to take photos inside the Museum?

Johnhoward (Part 2),

 

I was able to get pictures inside the museum as well.

 

For your viewing pleasure.

 

Ships Bell. I took these from all angles so that I can get my representation correct. One of the cool stories of the bell is that when it was discovered during the salvage, an air bubble trapped in it from 1862 was released and travelled to the surface.

 

Original cannon carriage with a fiberglass mock up of a burst barrel.

 

Deck Howitzer from the USS Pittsburgh. The Cairo's Howitzer was removed shortly before Cdr. Selfridge took command, so it was not on board at the time of its sinking.

 

Many of the artifacts on display in the museum.

 

One of the copper clad lanterns used in the powder magazine.

 

Original wood fabric and display model.

Cutaway model.

 

Cairo's Bilge pump.

 

One of my favorites. This painting hangs behind the front desk of the museum. I am not sure of the artist, but what intrigued me was the frame was made from some of the original wood taken from the Cairo.

 

-Brian

Edited May 13, 2022 by mbp521

[mbp521]

Hello again everyone,

 

It's hard to believe that I have been working on this build for two years now. My how time flies. So for my second anniversary I though I would post a brief update.

 

I finished up on the hatchways between the hog chain posts. I am 99.9% confident that this is what these are, and where they are located from the old photograph of the Cairo. I previously completed the Port side hatchway and finished up the Starboard one.

 

 

Once these were completed, I started construction on the ladders. I used the same technique and style that was used on the ladder to access the pilot house, just a standard wooden ladder with round rungs. 

 

First, holes were drilled in the side support.

 

I used toothpicks for the rungs and pieced the whole thing together to get the rungs evenly spaced on both ladders.

 

Next I got the spacing for the width of the ladders and glued the rungs in place.

 

Finally, I separated the two ladders, glued them to a scrap piece of board and painted them up.

 

I forgot to take a picture of them painted, but here are some of pictures of them after they were installed.

 

Next up, after more research I found out that I didn't get the chimneys built correctly. Due to an error in my math, I had the spacing of the segments too far apart. So I stripped everything down and rebuilt them using the correct measurement this time. I triple checked my math this go-round. I used the same method as before, using  aluminum tape and a ponce wheel to simulate the rivets, then wrapped them around the 3/4" copper tubing.

 

Once they were wrapped, they were painted with a special primer that helps paint adhere better to aluminum, another step that I forgot on my previous attempt.

 

Finally, the black paint is applied and the signature Gray Band that was assigned to the Cairo.

 

Finally it was on to the hammock racks. I used my handy dandy little mock up to get an idea as to how I wanted to build these up. Since it was confirmed that the Cairo's hammock racks were indeed constructed of wood from my conversation at the museum, this was how I was going to construct them.

 

Satisfied with they way they looked on my mockup, it was on to adding them to the Port side deck.

 

Outer walls going on. Each of the stanchions have a knee brace pointing inboard to support the rails as well as support for lateral movement from the masts and chimney guys. 

 

Getting everything straight.

 

One of the internal knee braces.

Hammock rack end cap (or tombstone as I like to call it) installed.

 

External knee braces in place.

 

I started to work on the simulated stowed hammocks that were going to be covered. I was using some DAS Clay to form the shape of the hammocks and was going to cover that with some muzlin with a coat of paint and weathering, but it just wasn't coming out the way that I'd hoped it would. So I am going to play around with a few other ideas and see what looks  best. 

 

I was messing around with the lighting and a few other things when I snapped this shot. I just thought that it looked cool, so I included it.

 

Finally, in celebration of two years worth of work.

 

Day 1:

 

Day 365:

 

...and Day 730:

She's starting to come together. I did clean up my bench somewhat for this picture, it would have been way too embarrassing to post a picture of it sitting in the clutter.

 

Now on to building the hammock racks on the Starboard sides and the aft skylight/hatchways.

 

Until next time, thank you everyone for stopping by and all the kind comments and likes. Everyone stay safe and healthy.

 

-Brian

[Keith Black]

 An amazing two year journey, Brian. What a delight your Cairo model is. 

[Cathead]

Happy anniversary! Hope you remembered to get her flowers and a card (You make my heart ironclad? Here's to two years of Union?). Your work has me itching so bad to get back to work on another riverboat, but not there yet, so it's great to live vicariously through this (and others). 

Edited May 19, 2022 by Cathead

[Canute]

Congrats on the 2 years, Brian. She's looking very good. 👍