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The wreck of the Alabama was discovered in November of 1984 by Lieutenant Commander Bruno Duclos of the French Navy minesweeper Circe. The French Navy had been searching for the wreck for a number of years as part of their training regimen for sonar operators. Duclos dispatched divers who returned to the surface with confirmation of a wooden hull, iron machinery, and English china. Commander Max Guerout was immediately called to verify the ships identity. Guerout later concluded that this was almost certainly the wreck of the CSS Alabama.

The first archaeological investigation of the remains of the CSS Alabama was undertaken in 1988 under the direction of Commander Guerout. Data from the 1988 expedition facilitated the development of plans for diver supported research projects conducted by the Association CSS Alabama in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995, all duly authorized according to the terms of the Executive Agreement of 3 October 1989. That research has resulted in a complex plan of the wreck and the recovery of an important collection of some 200 objects, including the wheel, several flushing toilets with transfer printed ceramic bowls, and a variety of plates, glasses, salt cellars, and other galley and table ware deck tracks for the vessel's ordnance trucks, a pivot carriage and a large Blakely rifled cannon.

In 1999, after a three year hiatus in field research, a reconnaissance investigation of the wreck was organized and carried out by the Association CSS Alabama, with the cooperation of the Association of the Friends of CSS Alabama, an American sister organization. Field research was designed to determine if significant changes had occurred at the wreck site and to collect data to support planning more complex and extensive on-site investigation. That reconnaissance was performed on 19 and 21 June 1999.

Click on the titles below for further reading on the C.S.S. Alabama artifact recovery efforts.

Artifact Recovery Main Page
Synopsis of Previous Research
Wreck Site Environment
Description of the Vessel Remains
Approved Scope of On-site Investigation 2000
Specific Research Methodology
Surface Support Vessels
Project Personnel
Proposed Project Schedule
Project Equipment