Mariners' Museum
USS Monitor

On Saturday, I joined Mark and Gary on a tour of the Mariners' Museum. It was one of the most well laid out displays I've ever seen. There were full size replicas of the Monitor spread out throughout the area, including a full size replica of the exterior that patrons could walk around on.

The last sight of the Monitor before she sank in a storm on December 31, 1862, was the red lantern that had been hung on the turret to signal for help.

The rotating turret was the innovation that changed Naval history. The deck has been cut away to allow you to see the drive mechanism. Note the thickness of the armor plate.

The anchor was one of the first things brought up. It had been jettisonned and was found on the sea bed a few hundred yards away from the remains. The right photo shows the pilot house and deck of the full size replica that you can walk. The gray squares are hatches and the round spots are skylights that provided daylight into the interior.

The Monitor's opponent was the CSS Virginia. The photo on the left shows the Virginia's armor plating.
The iron plates are 2 inches thick each.
Two four inch thichnesses of wood followed by 12 inches of wood.

The metal sat is saltwater and was heavily encrusted. The exposure allowed sodium and other salts to penetrate deep into the metal. The complete turret, the guns with their carriages, the engine and the exchange are all soaking in solutions to pull the salts out of the metal. They will be soaking for many years.