The CSS Georgia Raise the Wreck! Festival July 25 is free and will highlight the ongoing recovery of the Confederate ironclad vessel, the CSS Georgia, and its history.

Underwater archaeology is currently taking place in the river where the vessel was scuttled, adjacent to Old Fort Jackson in Savannah. The festival at Old Fort Jackson will be from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., with dive activity during the first hour and a half.

The CSS Georgia is an ironclad gunboat built in Savannah for the Confederacy in 1862. Area women formed the Ladies Gunboat Association to raise the money for its construction. The vessel was used as a floating battery anchored at Fort Jackson, upstream from lines of channel obstructions near Elba Island. The vessel's position and the river obstructions were supposed protected Savannah from a Union naval approach. Confederate troops scuttled the vessel in December 1864 during the approach of General William T. Sherman's Union troops.

The festival will have artifacts recently recovered from the wreck site on display. The public will also be able to view recovery operations on the dive barge offshore, and talk with historians and archaeologists involved with the recovery.

There will be several other organizations will host informational booths with displays, games, and more.

Other activities at the festival include:

• Games, hands-on activities and displays

• Demonstrations and presentations from archaeologists and divers

• Videos, images and displays about history connected to the CSS Georgia

• Firing of the fort's 32-pounder cannon

• Opportunities to interact with Navy robotics

• Self-guided tours of the fort

• Costumed interpreters

Recovery of the CSS Georgia is a component of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. The free festival is sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers.