AH-WR-0007

USS Monitor

Ironclad Turret Warship · United States · Lost 1862 · The Outer Banks

The Union ironclad that fought CSS Virginia to a standstill foundered in a Cape Hatteras gale. Her wreck became America's first national marine sanctuary.

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

She was an experiment that worked: an iron raft carrying a revolving turret, almost nothing above the waterline, and two eleven-inch guns. On 9 March 1862, days into her service, she met CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads in the first engagement between ironclad warships, and neither could finish the other. The design that made her formidable in sheltered water made her dangerous in open sea. On the last night of 1862, under tow off Cape Hatteras, she took water and went down. Sixteen of her people were lost. She was found in 1973, and in 1975 the water above her became the first National Marine Sanctuary in the country. Her turret was raised in 2002; remains recovered from it were treated as what they were.

Timeline

25 October 1861
Laid down at the Continental Iron Works, Brooklyn
30 January 1862
Launched
25 February 1862
Commissioned
9 March 1862
Battle of Hampton Roads
The first engagement between ironclad warships, fought against CSS Virginia.
31 December 1862
Foundered off Cape Hatteras under tow
Sixteen of her crew were lost; the rest were rescued by USS Rhode Island.
27 August 1973
Wreck discovered
Located by a Duke University Marine Laboratory expedition aboard R/V Eastward.
1975
Designated the first National Marine Sanctuary in the United States
2002
Turret recovered
Conserved at The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia.

Vessel

Built: 1862
Builder: Continental Iron Works (designer John Ericsson)
Yard: Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York
Material: Iron-plated
Length: 172 ft
Beam: 41.5 ft
Tonnage: 987 tons
Propulsion: Not established
Owners: United States Navy

Loss

Date: December 31, 1862
Cause: Storm
Location: Off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, while under tow
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: Beaufort, North Carolina
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 62
Lives lost: 16
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 230 ft
Condition: Inverted on the seabed; turret, engine and other major components recovered
Orientation: Inverted (capsized)
Discovered: 27 August 1973
Protection: Monitor National Marine Sanctuary — the first National Marine Sanctuary in the United States, designated in 1975