Okla-homey
12/30/2006, 07:25 AM
December 30, 1862 U.S.S. Monitor sinks
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9026/monitorh595438fk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor on station in the Chesapeake
144 years ago tonight, USS Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Just nine months earlier, on March 9, 1862 the ship had been part of a revolution in naval warfare when the ironclad dueled to a standstill with CSS Virginia (Merrimack) off Hampton Roads, Virginia in one of the most famous naval battles in history--the first time two ironclads faced each other in a naval engagement.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4128/monitorh587124lp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
CSS Virginia was built on the hull of USS Merrimack. The Rebs acquired the hull after US Navy personnel at Norfolk Naval Shipyard burned her as they evacuated the yard upon Virginia's secession from the Union. Unfortunately for the US, Merrimack only burned to the waterline, allowing the Confederacy to salvage her hull and engines...the basis for the ironclad Virginia.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1062/monitorh619233gx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Close-up of Monitor's turret after her duel w/Virgina. Those dents are from direct hits from Virginia's powerful guns.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7883/monitorh65686k8wv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor was designed by the Swedish-born naval architect and inventor John Ericsson. When Congress learned what the Virginians were up to in their armoring of the Merrimac's hulk, Ericsson was engaged to to oversee construction of his revolutionary ship. Monitor went from plans to launch in 100 days -- an amazing feat in and of itself!
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/9767/2003938944724713781_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003938944724713781)
Statue of John Ericsson (holding a model of his "cheesebox on a raft") in NYC's Battery Park.
After the famous duel, Monitor provided gun support on the James River for George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. By December 1862, it was clear Monitor was no longer needed in Virginia, so she was sent to Beaufort, North Carolina, to join a fleet being assembled for an attack on Charleston.
Monitor served well in the sheltered waters of Chesapeake Bay, but the heavy, low-slung ship was a poor craft for the open sea. USS Rhode Island towed the ironclad around the rough waters of Cape Hatteras which for centuries has been known as "the graveyard of the Atlantic" because of its hazardous shoals and bizarro currents.
Since December is a treacherous time for any ship off North Carolina, the decision to move Monitor seems highly questionable. As Monitor pitched and swayed in the rough seas, the caulking around the gun turret loosened and water began to leak into the hull. More leaks developed as the journey continued. High seas tossed the craft, causing the ship's flat iron bottom to "slap" the sea with great force. Each roll opened more seams, and by nightfall on December 30, Monitor was in dire straits.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/340/monitor1lp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
At 8:00 p.m., Monitor's skipper, J.P. Bankhead, signaled Rhode Island that he planned to abandon ship. The wooden side-wheeler pulled as close as safety allowed to the stricken ironclad, and two lifeboats were lowered to retrieve the crew. Many of the sailors were rescued, but some men were terrified to venture onto the deck in such rough seas. The ironclad's pumps stopped working and the ship sank before 16 crew members could be rescued.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/456/monitorocatormap9gg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's gravesite
Although Monitor's service was brief, it signaled a new era in naval combat. Virginia's arrival off Hampton Road terrified the U.S. Navy, but Monitor leveled the playing field. Both sides had ironclads, and the advantage would go to the side that could build more of them. Northern industry would win that battle for the Union.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/977/monitor00372km.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's bow. She lies inverted having capsized as she sank.
You can learn about the NOAA project to recover Monitor here:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02monitor/monitor.html
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/9522/monitorlabels6tj.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's condition on the sea floor off Cape Hatteras. As you can see, her turret seperated from her hull as she sank.
Monitor served as the first in a long line of US warships utilizing her basic design. Later classes of Monitor would incorporate twin and even triple turrets. Some these ships remained in active service almost until 1900.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/10152/2001947490726504037_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001947490726504037)
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/8451/2001952937886383585_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001952937886383585)
Twin-turreted USS Kalamazoo
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/7959/2001991554959417022_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001991554959417022)
USS Roanoke. She was a sister ship to Merrimac and was constructed from a hulk also burned at the Norfolk Navy Yard when the US navy bugged-out in 1861. The Confederates had neglected to utilize Roanoke's remains and when the Federals regained Norfolk in 1863, they set-about rebuilding her as a triple turret Monitor. She was re-launched in 1863. Unfortunately, sea trials didn't go well becuase the triple turrets made her top-heavy and she was exceptionally susceptible to rolling and capsize in rough seas.
Epilogue:
In August 2002, Monitor's turret was recovered from Davy Jones' locker. It will be displayed at the Mariners Museum in Norfolk, VA once restoration and stabilization efforts are complete.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6368/2004743372569438721_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004743372569438721)
The project involved a joint effort of NOAA oceanographers and US Navy recovery experts.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/6244/2004772637269985582_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004772637269985582)
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/9939/2004737846509883113_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004737846509883113)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/6914/2003508754610574891_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003508754610574891)
The turret undergoing stabilization in a large tank. It must be kept wet untill electrolysis is complete -- which will remove the rust and stabilize the metal.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/9942/2003580484481008467_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003580484481008467)
Ironstone butter dish recovered from the wreck. All this stuff will be on permanent display at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8583/insane7zo1gs.jpg
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9026/monitorh595438fk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor on station in the Chesapeake
144 years ago tonight, USS Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Just nine months earlier, on March 9, 1862 the ship had been part of a revolution in naval warfare when the ironclad dueled to a standstill with CSS Virginia (Merrimack) off Hampton Roads, Virginia in one of the most famous naval battles in history--the first time two ironclads faced each other in a naval engagement.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4128/monitorh587124lp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
CSS Virginia was built on the hull of USS Merrimack. The Rebs acquired the hull after US Navy personnel at Norfolk Naval Shipyard burned her as they evacuated the yard upon Virginia's secession from the Union. Unfortunately for the US, Merrimack only burned to the waterline, allowing the Confederacy to salvage her hull and engines...the basis for the ironclad Virginia.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/1062/monitorh619233gx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Close-up of Monitor's turret after her duel w/Virgina. Those dents are from direct hits from Virginia's powerful guns.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7883/monitorh65686k8wv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor was designed by the Swedish-born naval architect and inventor John Ericsson. When Congress learned what the Virginians were up to in their armoring of the Merrimac's hulk, Ericsson was engaged to to oversee construction of his revolutionary ship. Monitor went from plans to launch in 100 days -- an amazing feat in and of itself!
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/9767/2003938944724713781_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003938944724713781)
Statue of John Ericsson (holding a model of his "cheesebox on a raft") in NYC's Battery Park.
After the famous duel, Monitor provided gun support on the James River for George B. McClellan's Peninsular Campaign. By December 1862, it was clear Monitor was no longer needed in Virginia, so she was sent to Beaufort, North Carolina, to join a fleet being assembled for an attack on Charleston.
Monitor served well in the sheltered waters of Chesapeake Bay, but the heavy, low-slung ship was a poor craft for the open sea. USS Rhode Island towed the ironclad around the rough waters of Cape Hatteras which for centuries has been known as "the graveyard of the Atlantic" because of its hazardous shoals and bizarro currents.
Since December is a treacherous time for any ship off North Carolina, the decision to move Monitor seems highly questionable. As Monitor pitched and swayed in the rough seas, the caulking around the gun turret loosened and water began to leak into the hull. More leaks developed as the journey continued. High seas tossed the craft, causing the ship's flat iron bottom to "slap" the sea with great force. Each roll opened more seams, and by nightfall on December 30, Monitor was in dire straits.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/340/monitor1lp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
At 8:00 p.m., Monitor's skipper, J.P. Bankhead, signaled Rhode Island that he planned to abandon ship. The wooden side-wheeler pulled as close as safety allowed to the stricken ironclad, and two lifeboats were lowered to retrieve the crew. Many of the sailors were rescued, but some men were terrified to venture onto the deck in such rough seas. The ironclad's pumps stopped working and the ship sank before 16 crew members could be rescued.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/456/monitorocatormap9gg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's gravesite
Although Monitor's service was brief, it signaled a new era in naval combat. Virginia's arrival off Hampton Road terrified the U.S. Navy, but Monitor leveled the playing field. Both sides had ironclads, and the advantage would go to the side that could build more of them. Northern industry would win that battle for the Union.
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/977/monitor00372km.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's bow. She lies inverted having capsized as she sank.
You can learn about the NOAA project to recover Monitor here:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02monitor/monitor.html
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/9522/monitorlabels6tj.gif (http://imageshack.us)
Monitor's condition on the sea floor off Cape Hatteras. As you can see, her turret seperated from her hull as she sank.
Monitor served as the first in a long line of US warships utilizing her basic design. Later classes of Monitor would incorporate twin and even triple turrets. Some these ships remained in active service almost until 1900.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/10152/2001947490726504037_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001947490726504037)
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/8451/2001952937886383585_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001952937886383585)
Twin-turreted USS Kalamazoo
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/7959/2001991554959417022_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001991554959417022)
USS Roanoke. She was a sister ship to Merrimac and was constructed from a hulk also burned at the Norfolk Navy Yard when the US navy bugged-out in 1861. The Confederates had neglected to utilize Roanoke's remains and when the Federals regained Norfolk in 1863, they set-about rebuilding her as a triple turret Monitor. She was re-launched in 1863. Unfortunately, sea trials didn't go well becuase the triple turrets made her top-heavy and she was exceptionally susceptible to rolling and capsize in rough seas.
Epilogue:
In August 2002, Monitor's turret was recovered from Davy Jones' locker. It will be displayed at the Mariners Museum in Norfolk, VA once restoration and stabilization efforts are complete.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/6368/2004743372569438721_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004743372569438721)
The project involved a joint effort of NOAA oceanographers and US Navy recovery experts.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/6244/2004772637269985582_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004772637269985582)
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/9939/2004737846509883113_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004737846509883113)
http://aycu35.webshots.com/image/6914/2003508754610574891_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003508754610574891)
The turret undergoing stabilization in a large tank. It must be kept wet untill electrolysis is complete -- which will remove the rust and stabilize the metal.
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/9942/2003580484481008467_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003580484481008467)
Ironstone butter dish recovered from the wreck. All this stuff will be on permanent display at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, VA
http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/8583/insane7zo1gs.jpg