This day in history, December 31, 1862 At approximately 1:30 a.m. USS Monitor, the first ironclad warship commissioned by the Union Navy sinks during a storm 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina while being towed by USS Rhode Island. 16 Union Sailors went down with the ship. The brainchild of Swedish born engineer and inventor John Ericsson, Monitor was built by the Continental Iron Works at Brooklyn NY in the short timespan of only 101 days. Launched on January 30, 1862, Monitor presented a new concept in ship design and employed a variety of new inventions and innovations in ship building, most notably her two gun revolving turret, powered by steam drawn off the ships boilers. On March 9, 1862, Monitor made Naval history when she fought the Confederate Ironclad, CSS Virginia, at Hampton Roads, preventing the destruction of the blockading Union fleet. The Battle at Hampton Roads ushered in a new era in naval warfare. Following the battle, the worlds naval powers halted further construction of fixed gun wooden hulled warships. The use of a smaller number of guns, mounted so that they could fire in all directions became the new standard for warships of all types. After the battle, Monitor supplied gunfire support for Union General George McClellans unsuccessful offensive up the James River Penninsula, and the subsequent retreat of the army back to Norfolk, then returned to blockading operations with the fleet. In December 1862, a questionable decision was made to send Monitor through the rough, stormy waters of Cape Hatteras, to Beaufort, North Carolina, in order to join a fleet being assembled for an attack on Charleston, South Carolina. Serving well in coastal waters, the heavy, flat bottomed ship with her low freeboard was poorly designed for the open sea and had nearly foundered on her voyage from NY to VA. Only the presence of the nearby Tug, Seth Low, towing her inshore had prevented her sinking. On December 29, 1862, USS Monitor assisted by tow lines from the side-wheel steamer USS Rhode Island, got underway and left Hampton Roads bound for Beaufort, North Carolina. On the evening of December 30, Monitor and Rhode Island encountered a severe storm off Cape Hatteras. Pitching and rolling with heavy seas breaking over her deck, Monitor was leaking badly and her pumps were soon being overwhelmed. Shortly before midnight with water rising steadily below, Monitors Captain John Bankhead ordered a red distress lamp hoisted above her turret as the pre-arranged signal for USS Rhode Island to come take off the crew. The wooden side wheeler pulled as close as safety allowed and lowered two of her lifeboats. Forty-seven men were rescued from USS Monitor before she slipped beneath the waves. Sixteen men were lost, either washed overboard while trying to reach the rescue boats or trapped inside the foundering vessel. In August 1973 a team of scientists led by John G. Newton of the Duke University Marine Laboratory on the Research Vessel Eastward located the wreck of the Monitor lying upside down in 230 feet of water approximately 16 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras. After extensive examination of the recorded evidence by the Naval Research Laboratory, a formal announcement of the find was made in March 1974. In 1975 the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration designated the Monitor Wreck as the nations first National Marine Sanctuary. A 1983 survey by Research Divers from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration documented the wreck and recovered Monitors anchor, delivering it to East Carolina University for conservation. On March 9, 1987, the 125th anniversary of the battle between USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, US Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel designated the USS Monitor a National Historic Landmark. In May 1987 NOAA designated The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia as the principal museum for the Monitor collection of artifacts and historical and scientific data. A 1993 survey by Research Divers from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration documented significant deterioration and collapse of Monitors hull, particularly at the stern which was believed to be caused by the weight of the machinery from the inverted hull being supported only by the amidships turret. Plans were made to recover historically significant portions of the ship and return them to the Mariners Museum at Newport News VA for long term preservation and display. In the summer of 1998, Monitors 9 ft propeller and 11 ft of propeller shaft were removed from the wreck to help relieve stresses at the stern and to preserve one of the few existing original John Ericsson screw propellers. In 2001, U.S. Navy Salvage Divers from the USNS Grapple recovered Monitors 30 ton Horizontal Axis Steam Engine and boilers. The following summer they recovered Monitors innovative 140 ton turret and two 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbore cannon. During the 2002 recovery of the turret, divers discovered the remains of two of Monitors crew inside.The remains of these two unknown sailors were turned over to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii with the hopes of identifying them. Neither DNA nor Facial Reconstruction proved successful and the remains were interred as unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery on March 9, 2013, the 151st anniversary of the Battle Of Hampton Roads. On Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, NOAAs Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, together with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, dedicated a memorial to honor USS Monitor and the memory of the 16 sailors who died the night that Monitor sank. Placed in the Civil War section of Hampton National Cemetery located on the Hampton University campus, the monument memorializes the iconic vessel and the heroic efforts of the brave men who served their country. The link below will take you to the 1885 personal account of Francis Butts, a Rhode Island sailor who survived the sinking - as published in Century Magazine graveyardoftheatlantic/Loss_of_the_USS_Monitor.htm Photo: USS Monitor Lost in a Storm print by Graught.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:49:33 +0000
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