Civil War USS Monitor Center

LAST DAYS OF USS MONITOR

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The Monitor Boys. Officers on deck.
The Mariners’ Museum
P0001.014-01–PN5987

After the ironclad’s showdown with CSSVirginiaon March 9, 1862, USSMonitorwas considered the ‘little ship that saved the nation.’ TheMonitorcontinued to serve in Virginia waters until September 30 when the ironclad was sent to Washington Navy Yard for much needed repairs. The ship’s complement changed due to desertion and re-assignment; nevertheless, it left the yard on November 8 to return to Hampton Roads. Having received a variety of improvements,Monitorwas positioned off of Newport News Point, guarding against any excursion by the Confederate ironclad CSSRichmond.

CAN WE ATTAIN FRESH LAURELS?Read more

USS Monitor Center

Help Identify a Mystery Artifact

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Over the past 13 years, NOAA archaeologists and Mariners’ Museum conservators have discovered hundreds of amazing artifacts within USSMonitor‘s revolving gun turret. Some artifacts, like the Dahlgren guns, gun carriages, and gun tools, are undergoing conservation as I type this blog entry. Others have already been fully conserved and are now on display within the USSMonitorCenter at The Mariners’ Museum or have been loaned to other institutions around the country to help shareMonitor‘s fascinating stories.

However, there are handful of artifacts that continue to mystify us in the lab, particularly those that have been fully conserved but not properly identified. It may sound strange or surprising that in the last 13 years we have not successfully identified every single artifact from the turret. But this is often the case when many materials are excavated from an archaeological setting.Read more

Library & Archives

A Lost Bounty

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The HMSBounty, circa 1967. From The Mariners’ Museum Library collection.

Hello readers, and welcome back to the Library blog. Close to two weeks ago, Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard of the United States, impacting our lives from the Carolinas to Boston. While each person lost during this disaster is keenly felt, perhaps no single story is more relevant to maritime history than the tragic loss of the HMSBountyand two of her crew. For the families of Claudene Christian and Robin Walbridge, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

What makes the HMSBountyso special is that she was created out of period-correct materials, with the same tools they would have had back then and with the original building plans from the first HMSBounty. The modern ship was not just a replica: it was an authentic rebuilding of the same ship, right down to the hand-bend nails in her keel. Constructed for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” the tall ship HMSBountyhas since served in many motion pictures and as a unique piece of living history for the coastal cities of Britain, Europe and the United States.Read more