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Gallery Three

USS Inaugural remains - Mississippi River at St. Louis - February 2013

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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

View generally south looking at the bow of the ship.

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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

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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USS Inaugural remains

View to the USS Inaugural from the Mississippi River bank.

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USS Inaugural remains

Zoomed pano of the USS Inaugural.

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USS Inaugural remains

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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