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Saving the U.S.S. Monitor
By Andrew Shephard
Topside aboard the U.S.S. Monitor (photo from Monitor NMS web site, http://monitor.nos.noaa.gov/) |
One might think that it is too late to save a ship that sunk 140 years ago. Soon after its historic battle in 1862 with the Confederate ironclad, C.S.S. Virginia, the Union ironclad U.S.S. Monitor sank in stormy seas 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C. In the 1970s, the wreck site became the nation's first National Marine Sanctuary. Now, time and the sea are taking her apart. Teams of divers are now moored over the wreck site, 240 feet below, to begin the final stages of retrieving major portions of the wreck for permanent display in a safer home ashore.
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(a) Wreck of U.S.S. Monitor lies in 240 feet of water 18 miles off Cape Hatteras, NC (graphic from Mariner's Museum web site, http://www.mariner.org/monitorcenter/); (b) Profile of current state of wreck, lying upside down (graphic from http://www.mariner.org/monitorcenter/). |
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The goals of 2001 diving operations are to map and recover small artifacts in and around the wreck, recover the ironclad's engine, and begin preparations for future recovery of the gun turret, a project that requires teamwork and advanced diving technologies.
NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is managing this historic project. NOAA Research's National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, led by divemaster Doug Kesling, is supervising the survey and small artifact recovery operations. The U.S. Navy will carry out the heavy lifting. Other participants include technical divers from the NOAA Dive Program, East Carolina University, the Cambrian Foundation, and the Mariner's Museum, future home of the U.S.S. Monitor exhibit.
Phase I of the 2001 operations ended April 13. Advanced diving technology, including use of special breathing gas mixtures and specialized equipment, allowed divers to safely reach the wreck sitting 240 feet beneath the surface, well beyond the depth of normal air scuba diving. Diving from UNCW's 63-foot Research Vessel Cape Fear (http://www.uncwil.edu/cmsr/capefear/), the dive teams made observations and measurements needed by Navy engineers and salvors to carry out the engine recovery.
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(a) UNCW's R/V Cape Fear; (b) Technical divers must decompress in the water after deep 240 foot dive to the Monitor; (c) Barge the Navy will use to recover Monitor's engine in the Summer of 2001 (photo from http://www.mariner.org/monitorcenter/). |
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During Phase II in June and July, the Navy will place a barge over the top of the wreck and recover the engine. The final stage of this year's efforts, which will take place from July to September, will prepare for the gun turret recovery in 2002.
Interesting related websites to check out include:
http://www.uncwil.edu/nurc
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/monitor
http://monitor.nos.noaa.gov
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/monitor01/monitor01.html
http://www.mariner.org/monitorcenter/expeditions/spring2000/.
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For more information on the 2001 Monitor Expedition and UNCW's National Undersea Research Center, contact Mr. Andrew Shepard, associate director, National Undersea Research Center at UNCW, 5600 Marvin Moss Lane, Wilmington, NC 28409. 910-962-2441, sheparda@uncwil.edu. For Monitor Sanctuary information contact Dina Hill at the Monitor NMS Office at 757/591-7352. |
[4/23/01]
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