Our mission is to locate and secure the wrecks of the USS Arizona and other Civil War vessels with the goal of preserving the history, the artifacts and the educational legacy of each vessel.
The USS Arizona was a 950-ton iron-hulled, side-wheel steamer built in 1858. She was seized by the Confederates in 1862 only to be captured as a blockade runner by the Union navy later that year. She spent the next few years serving as gunboat for the Western Gulf Blockade Squadron until October 1864 when it received orders to serve the flagship for the squadron under Admiral David Farragut. On the evening of a Feb 27, 1865 a fire broke out on the ship while underway and just after midnight her magazine exploded and she sank into the Mississippi River.
The USS Arizona Civil War Project Fund is a public charity with 501 c(3) tax exempt status. Its purpose is to raise funds to support the activities necessary to locate survey and secure the wreck of the USS Arizona and other significant American Civil War vessels. Additionally upon the successful identification of these vessels the organization will work to preserve the history, artifacts and educational legacy of each wreck through various partnerships and public outreach.
The current project of the fund is focused on the short term goal of conducting an archaeological survey trip to Louisiana to obtain data and conduct further imaging about the validity and status of the presumed wreck of the USS Arizona. After the completion of this feasibility study, the results will be analyzed with the support of historians and archeologists from both State and Federal institutions/agencies. The conclusions derived from the analysis of the study will help guide the future activities of the organization including the possibility of additional fieldwork.