CSS Georgia Archaeological Data Recovery and Mitigation for The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) Chatham County, Georgia, and Jasper County, South Carolina

In accordance with 36 CFR Part 800, a Programmatic Agreement was signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Savannah District, Georgia and South Carolina State Historic Preservation Offices, and the U.S. Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command to mitigate the impacts to the CSS Georgia shipwreck site 9CH 1512 from Savannah Harbor Navigation Project activities. Subsequently, a systematic archaeological recovery project was developed and approved for implementation as mitigation of the adverse project effects. Commenced at the beginning of January to the end of October 2015, and then completed from mid-June to the end of July 2017, the complex and at times difficult project performed in an environmentally hostile site environment was based on a phased approach, the success of which was a result of the efforts of numerous teams and phase-specific personnel. Performed under a U.S. Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command Permit, the archaeological investigation of the CSS Georgia and recovery of artifacts, ordnance, machinery, and vessel structure can only be described as a very successful undertaking with artifact recovery that was seen as literally amazing. Representing approximately 440 tons of material, 32,782 artifacts were recovered, 13,601 artifacts weighing 165 tons were shipped to the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University for conservation, and 19,181 artifacts weighing 274 tons were reburied. The investigation and recovery of CSS Georgia generated extensive physical data concerning the design, construction, and steam machinery of the ironclad, as well as recovered artifacts that in some instances represent the largest extant assemblages of specific types to date.