 |
|
|
| A U.S. Navy diver is “hatted” in preparation for a 240-foot descent to the wreck of the USS Monitor. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1945 - 1975 |
|
|
1945
August
While testing the newly developed Underwater Object Locator (UOL) Mark IV south of the Cape Hatteras Light in North Carolina, the United States Navy detects a submerged object 140 feet in length. The location in the area of the wreck of the Monitor leads to speculation that the unidentified object could in fact be the lost ironclad. However, strong currents prevent divers from accurately identifying the wreck. Although inconclusive, the UOL operation generates enough interest for the Office of Naval History to open a "Monitor file."
1952
Raynor McMullen, a retired postal clerk from Michigan, organizes the USS Monitor Foundation of Washington, D.C. McMullen offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can locate and salvage the Monitor.
1953
September 30
The Secretary of the Navy officially abandons the Monitor, surrendering all claims by the United States Navy to the ship.
1955
Corporal Robert Marx, USMC, originates a "shallow water" theory concerning the location of the wreck. Marx claims to have met a sea captain who showed him an old family journal with an entry for January 1865 that detailed a family picnic at Hatteras where the "Yankee Cheesebox" was visible in the surf near the lighthouse. Marx claims to have discovered the Monitor in 45 feet of water and to have put his name in a bottle and placed it on the wreck. The wreck is not located during subsequent searches.
1967
The State of North Carolina passes legislation requiring anyone engaging in salvage operations within state waters to obtain permits from the state.
1970
Captain Ernest W. Peterkin of the Naval Research Laboratory begins an exhaustive study of navigational information from the USS Rhode Island.
1973
May
The USS Monitor Foundation and Underwater Archaeological Associates claim to have found the Monitor's turret using sonar. A buoy left at the site is later destroyed by a passing ship.
June
The USS Monitor Foundation unsuccessfully attempts to relocate the site of the turret.
July
Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy formulate a plan to search the area off the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse using a magnetometer. The search is canceled due to adverse weather conditions.
July 17
A U.S. Navy RP-3D, using a highly sensitive magnetometer, conducts a four-hour, low-altitude search of the area around the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
August
Duke University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), National Geographic, and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources participate in an expedition using Duke University's Research Vessel Eastward. The expedition has two objectives: a geological study of the continental shelf and a search for the Monitor using the track and log of the USS Rhode Island. Twenty-one sites are identified as vessels other than the Monitor. On August 27, the last scheduled day of the expedition, side-scan sonar records a "long amorphous" echo. Three additional days are spent collecting data at the site. Faulty cameras record fuzzy images of a flat surface that appears to be iron plate, and a "circular protrusion" similar to a turret. An underwater camera designed by Dr. Harold Edgerton of MIT snags on the wreck and is lost.
September
"Project Cheesebox" is organized at the Naval Academy. A full investigation of the Monitor's plans, historic records, logs, etc., is combined with information concerning the recent wreck discoveries by various organizations. This information is included in a study conducted by midshipmen specializing in history, engineering, oceanography, ocean engineering, and international relations.
October
As part of their study, the Project Cheesebox participants develop a test tank model of the Monitor in order to study possible sinking scenarios.
November-December
In late 1973 plans are developed for an expedition to revisit the site located by the Eastward using the Alcoa Seaprobe.
1974
March 8
After extensive examination of evidence recorded in August 1973, a formal announcement is made that the Duke University team has located the wreck of the USS Monitor.
March 11
A planning meeting is convened at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C. Several organizations present their findings and conclusions concerning the location of the Monitor. It is decided that the first site to be examined during the proposed April expedition using the Alcoa Seaprobe will be the site located during the August 1973 Eastward survey.
April 1 - 7
Using side-scan sonar and video cameras, the Alcoa Seaprobe expedition verifies that Duke University has indeed found the wreck of the USS Monitor. The wreck is located in 220 feet of water lying upside down on the bottom with the after section of her deck resting on the displaced turret. Remote 35mm cameras are used to photograph the wreck. These photographs are later assembled into a photomosaic of the wreck by the Naval Intelligence Division. Further examinations of the site are canceled due to adverse weather conditions.
August 12 -16
The U.S. Coast Guard conducts an underwater search experiment at the Monitor site. The Coast Guard successfully locates the unmarked wreck without using "precision navigation equipment." The CGC Chilula performs a standard search for locating distressed craft and locates the wreck site in approximately four hours. Additional plans to film the wreck are canceled because of strong bottom currents.
August 19 - 22, 26 - 28
A team from Duke University, aboard the research vessel Beveridge, attempts to obtain 35mm "side shots" of the Monitor for a profile photomosaic. Underwater TV cameras are used to help position the "vertical" camera. Strong underwater currents and technical problems prevent the 35mm camera from being used.
September 26
The Governor of North Carolina nominates the wreck of the USS Monitor as the nation's first marine sanctuary.
January 30, 1975
The Monitor is designated the nation’s first national marine sanctuary under the management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). |
|
|
|
