The Monitor (pre-excavation dive site map).
Shown courtesy of The Cambrian Foundation. Source: Atlantic Wreck Divers of Maryland
Be sure to see what you can do to help NOAA preserve the Monitor or support the U.S.S. Monitor Center.
The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, is the respository and conservatory for salvaged artifacts from the Monitor which have been recovered, including her famous turret & guns. See their USS Monitor Center for information on Life On Board, The Story of the Monitor & Preservation. The site features an artifact of the month recovered from the wreck. See their vision of the future U.S.S. Monitor Center. Be sure to check out the U.S.S. Monitor Center Cam to watch the construction. Visit their visit their online gift shop. While you are at it, support the Center as a very worthy cause in naval history.
The Cambrian Foundation has documented their dive seasons on the U.S.S. Monitor from 1997 to 2001. Use their Project Index drop down menu to view each season's report. One of their particular highlights is a graphic sequence of how the Monitor sank & settled.
The Naval Historical Center has some interesting photos of the Monitor.
From the Third International Conference on the Technical Aspects of the Preservation of Historic Vessels, a paper entitled Preservation and Restoration of Historic Vessels in Virtual Environments by Otto P. Jons includes graphics of the Monitor's turret mechanism, and some virtual images of the Monitor.
A small but excellent book on the Monitor and her inventor is out in paperback.
Sites which pay homage to the Monitor are legion. Here are some links to the best of them:
Return to the Pre-Dreadnought Preservation main page.