I researched the BDK for a master's thesis in the mid-80s (changed topics later, though). My parents were also from Yazoo City and I spent much of my youth visiting relatives there. The BDK was frequently featured in the area's Civil War history, along with the Confederate ironclad ARKANSAS which was built there.

After being sunk by the battery-activated Confederate torpedo, the ship was heavily salvaged. All of the big guns, small arms, some of the ships' stores, and much of its ammunition were recovered. Even the Captain's desk was recovered. Practically all of the armor and, I believe, the engine were recovered (I think by a later Navy salvage boat). Too make doubly sure that the Confederates could not make use of the ship, explosives charges were placed aboard and much of what remained was destroyed. A crewman named Carrington kept a diary, of which I acquired some extracts concerning the sinking. He describes much of this, as does the official record of events.

The wreck's current location is in a dead bend of the Yazoo River below Yazoo City very near the McGraw-Curran lumber yard. This hairpin bend was cut off from the main channel in the 1950s, creating Lake Yazoo. Prior to this cutoff and at low water the wreck could be seen and was photographed several times by a local resident. The tubular boilers are clearly visible in these photographs. Since that time, the site has completely silted over and even when the lake is dry, cannot be seen. These photographs, when compared with plans of USS CAIRO, indicate that the vessel barely survives to the turn of the bilge and this was a flat bottomed boat! During the 1930s an employee of the lumber mill used a mule team to recover what seemed to be pieces of armor plate to sell for scrap.

Today, it would require a major undertaking to investigate the site, which is why I stopped pursuing the study in favor of a less complicated project. And as Mr. Christopher has pointed out, disturbing the wrecksite is a criminal offence since title to the vessel was never transferred from the government.