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This is the final resting place of the World War II minesweeper
USS Inaugural.
Images taken middle of February 2013 when the Mississippi River was low
and exposed the remains of the ship.
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The USS Inaugural was moored for 25 years on the Missouri side of
the Mississippi River directly across from the Gateway Arch. The
ship was open to the public as a museum.
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During the flood of 1993 the ship broke loose from its moorings,
suffered a breach in the hull, rolled onto the port side and sunk
approximately 1/2 mile south of the Arch grounds on the Missouri side of
the Mississippi River.
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The ship is in the process of being scrapped. In December of
2012 the Mississippi River was low enough that you could simply walk to the ship
from the river bank. The river rose approximately 6 feet in January
of 2013 possibly due to increased releases from Lock and Dam 26 in Alton,
IL. The higher water level has temporarily suspended scrapping
operations.
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View generally south looking at the bow of the ship.
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View generally south of the USS Inaugural, a group of moored barges
and the retired Cahokia Power Plant in the background.
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Close-up of the
Cahokia
Power Plant on the Illinois side of the river retired in 1976.
This coal plant could burn one ton of coal in 30 seconds and consume 600
million gallons of water per day at full power. The 6 brick smoke
stacks are one of the most prominent landmarks in the downtown St. Louis
area.
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View over the top of a series of moored barges. Modern barges
are massive in scale and this group covers several acres of the river
just south of the USS Inaugural.
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View generally north to the USS Inaugural from a grade cut made
recently to access the boat for scrapping. The ground plane along
the river in this location is simply an industrial waste-land of all
kinds of building debris and trash.
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Another view from the river bank generally north to the USS
Inaugural. The massive steel three bow truss bridge on the horizon
is The MacArthur Bridge.
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View to the USS Inaugural from the Mississippi River bank.
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Zoomed pano of the USS Inaugural.
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View generally east to
The
MacArthur Bridge. This bridge was for many years the Route 66
passage over the Mississippi River. Closed to vehicular traffic in
1981.
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