The conservation of artifacts from underwater environments is quite complex…
... and requires knowledge, equipment, and expertise from a wide range of disciplines. The conservation team of The Mariners’ Museum actively seeks grants and partnerships with other institutions and organizations to maximize all resources available to analyze and treat the variety of artifacts from the USS Monitor. This section features conservation projects and techniques resulting from these collaborations. The Mariners’ Museum truly appreciates all the individuals and organizations that contribute their time and other resources to ensure the success of the USS Monitor conservation effort.
NOAA
archaeologists excavating
wood artifacts from the
interior of the Monitor's
gun turret. Photo credit:
Monitor Collection, NOAA
An Evaluation of Supercritical Drying and PEG/Freeze-Drying of Waterlogged Archaeological Wood: The Mariners’ Museum conservation department has partnered with other scientists to explore a new technology for treating waterlogged wood artifacts.
Figure 1: Jim Clark, senior model analyst for MAGLEV, scanned the Monitor's propeller in the lobby of The Mariners' Museum.
3D Scanning Several companies have been actively involved in efforts to record Monitor objects using state-of-the-art laser technology. Click here for details of the scanning work and images produced from the data.
Conservation
Tanks Several
large conservation tanks, including
one with a capacity of over 90,000
gallons, have been fabricated
by volunteers from Northrop Grumman
Newport News, many of whom are
students from the shipyard’s
Apprentice School. Several of
the tanks were blasted and coated
by volunteers from members of
the local chapter of the Society
for Protective Coatings (SSPC)
Figure
2: The 90,000-gallon
tank for the Monitor
turret was designed
and fabricated by
volunteers from Northrop
Grumman Newport News.
including
representatives from Northrop
Grumman, Mid-Atlantic Coatings,
United Coatings, and Virginia
Natural Gas. Supplies and volunteers
were also provided by Sherwin-Williams
(coatings) , 3M (safety equipment),
Sponge-Jet (blast media), and
WIWA (special pumping equipment).
Organics
Research
The Conservation Department and researchers
from Old Dominion University are studying
foreign minerals and chemical inclusions
in the organic artifacts recovered from
the USS Monitor, with a particular
focus on sulfur. Presence of the latter
is especially problematic because it
can lead to
Wooden
furniture element excavated
from the interior of the
Monitor’s gun
turret.
formation of sulfuric acid which causes
deterioration of the objects. In addition,
researchers at the University of Minnesota
are working with conservators to identify
and characterize the biological deterioration
state of Monitor wood artifacts
for the purpose of best determining
conservation treatment options.
Metals
Research
Scientists from Old Dominion University
have been working with conservators
to understand the current preservation
state of metal artifacts recovered from
the wreck. The Monitor team
and Old Dominion University have teamed
up with Clemson University and conservators
working on the H.L. Hunley
submarine to develop an exciting new
technology to extract chloride salts
from iron.
Scanning
electron microscope image
of a cross section of wrought
iron recovered from the
Monitor wrecksite.
The mid-grey field at the
bottom of the image is corroded
metal and the white areas
are uncorroded metal. The
gray horizontal streaks
in the white area are slag
inclusions.
Figure 3: David Krop, shown here working on one of the cannons from the Monitor turret, was a summer intern in 2004 and is now a full-time employee.
Internship Programs With funding from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), The Mariners’ Museum has
established an internship program in
the conservation of marine archaeological
artifacts. In 2004 and 2005, one internship
was offered each summer. Funding has
been made available to offer short and
extended term internships from 2006-2009.
NOAA and The Museum have also partnered
with Old Dominion University to offer
internships for corrosion and materials
studies on Monitor artifacts.
Please contact Eric
Schindelholz, lead Monitor
conservator.
