USS Cairo Sinks: First Warship Destroyed by Mine
The USS Cairo struck an electrically detonated mine on the Yazoo River and sank in twelve minutes, becoming the first armored warship ever destroyed by this new weapon. Raised from the riverbed a century later, the ironclad is now preserved at Vicksburg National Military Park as the only surviving example of a Civil War river gunboat.
December 12, 1862
164 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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