The CSS Chattahoochee was a twinscrew steam gunboat which was built at Saffold, Georgia, and entered service in the Confederate navy in February 1863.

The vessel patrolled the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers and often docked at the Chattahoochee Arsenal wharf. In May 1863, the ship suffered a horrific boiler explosion near Blountstown on the Apalachicola River which killed or severely scalded many of her crew and disabled the ship.

The dead sailors were taken to Chattahoochee where they were buried near the arsenal while the vessel was taken to Columbus, Georgia for repairs.

During the Wilson's Raid campaign, when Union cavalry approached Columbus in April 1865, the ship was scuttled by the Confederates to prevent her capture.

In the early 1960s, a 30-foot section of the stern hull and the steam engines were recovered and are now on display at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus.

In 1994, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument at the sailors' burial site in Chattahoochee which lists the names of the 17 sailors who perished in the explosion.

Photo Courtesy of Fred Gaske, Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN)

Information Provided by the Florida Department of State.