CSS Georgia ironclad recovery to be featured at Gray’s Reef Film Festival 2018

Published Feb. 6, 2018

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A documentary on the recovery of the Civil War ironclad CSS Georgia by Savannah’s own Michael Jordan will make its debut as part of the three-day Gray’s Reef Film Festival. The festival, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, will feature several family-friendly films at Savannah-area venues.

The documentary on the CSS Georgia will be screened at the Trustees Theater, 216 East Broughton St., at 7 p.m., Feb. 10. The festival runs Feb. 9 – 11.

Jordan’s film, “From Ironclad to Artifact: The Journey of the CSS Georgia," will discuss the history of the vessel and the efforts to remove it from the Savannah River’s shipping channel. The film will show the difficulty of working in the swift currents of the Savannah River while not interfering with the nation’s fourth busiest container port.

"We are delighted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers chose Gray’s Reef Film Festival to introduce 'From Ironclad to Artifact: The Journey of the CSS Georgia'," said Jessica White, acting superintendent of Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary. "An important part of our mission is to protect maritime artifacts and to tell their stories. The fascinating tale of this one-of-a-kind shipwreck, the CSS Georgia, adds to Savannah’s maritime legacy and furthers appreciation of our national maritime heritage.”

Jordan, under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, filmed a behind-the-scenes look at the need for the recovery, its difficulties and the historical finds brought up from the ironclad’s 150-year-old resting place. The recovery of the CSS Georgia was part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project to deepen the harbor to accommodate larger neo-Panamax container ships.

For more information on the CSS Georgia, contact the Corps of Engineers at 912-652-5014. For more information on the Gray’s Reef Film Festival, please contact Michelle Riley with NOAA at 912-598-2417.

 

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Contact
Billy Birdwell, Public Affairs Specialist
912-652-5014
912-677-6039 (cell)
Billy.e.birdwell@usace.army.mil

Release no. 18-003