More than 160 years after the USS Monitor sank off the coast of North Carolina, new 3D images are offering a detailed look at an iconic Civil War ship that helped shape naval technology and marine architecture in the 19th century.
First launched in January 1962 from Greenpoint, New York, the Monitor was the U.S. Navy’s prototype ironclad warship, designed to counter a Confederate ironclad ship called the CSS Virginia, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Monitor went up against the CSS Virginia during the historic battle of Hampton Roads in March of that year — one of the earliest stops along an interactive, digital timeline developed by scientists at NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the defense contractor Northrop Grumman.
The timeline provides evolving three-dimensional views of the Monitor, beginning with its construction and ending in the present day, as the remains of the shipwreck now serve as a reef filled with fish and other marine creatures. It’s located some 240 feet beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean near the Outer Banks.
“This thriving ecosystem grew from the wreck of the iconic civil war ironclad — from a vessel of war to an island of life,” reads a description paired with the timeline’s final stop. Alongside it are 3D images that depict how the Monitor shipwreck looks currently.
NOAA also unveiled a series of high-resolution images of the wreck site, which Northrop Grumman produced using advanced sonar technology and an autonomous underwater vehicle deployed down to the bottom of the sea. NOAA said the “fine-scale scans highlight how advanced technology can enhance and expand our understanding of the shipwreck and continue Monitor’s legacy of innovation for future generations.”
Tane Casserley, a maritime archaeologist with the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, told WAVY-TV the scans show the Monitor is in “fantastic shape” despite sitting at the bottom of the ocean for over 160 years.
“It’s difficult to visit. It’s very deep. There’s only so much we can do as scuba divers,” Casserley told the station. “But now we got this.”
The Monitor is technically the world’s largest marine archaeological metals conservation project, according to the Mariners’ Museum and Park, which manages the wreck site alongside NOAA. The ship sank in a severe storm that struck near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on New Year’s Eve in 1862. Forty-seven crewmembers were rescued, but 16 sailors did not survive.
The ship later became a lost artifact for more than 100 years. But remnants of the ironclad were discovered by researchers in August 1973, and in the ensuing years the site was designated by NOAA as the country’s first national marine sanctuary.
“This designation set the stage for an appreciation of America’s maritime heritage, a broad legacy that includes not only physical resources (such as historic shipwrecks and prehistoric archaeological sites) but also archival documents, oral histories, traditional seafaring and ecological knowledge of indigenous cultures,” NOAA said.
As exploration of the site continued over time, scientists and researchers collected and conserved various items from the wreck, including pieces of its hull, turret and stern, which researchers say are crucial for understanding the Monitor’s construction. The wreck became an active reef in the meantime.
AP 