USS Monitor Center Blog

Drawer from Turret

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:49:39 GMT

Elsa has finished treating a wood drawer that was recovered from Monitor's turret. The drawer had an iron lock mechanism within a copper casing. During burial, the lock mechanism corroded away leaving only the wood drawer and copper casing.

Condenser Tank Work

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:35:19 GMT

This week apprentices from Northrop Grumman's Apprentice School are modifying the Monitor's condenser treatment tank by installing a watertight door. This activity will take a week or two and is visible on our web cams. Conservators will begin extensive deconcretion, electrolysis, and disassembly of the condenser once the watertight door is installed. Check our webcams for progress. http://www.mariner.org/exhibitions/ussmonitorcenter/camera.php

Turret Time

Mon, 04 May 2009 15:15:16 GMT

Conservators are back in the turret tank! Come visit The Mariners' Museum to see conservators removing concreted sediment and molding/casting archaeological features inside Monitor's gun turret. The tank will be drained Monday - Friday from May - July. Stop by for an amazing view of this historic piece of naval history. Birds-eye view of conservarors in the turret tank.

CSS Virginia Dahlgren commemorative inscription

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:28:15 GMT

Conservators are treating a Dahlgren gun from the CSS Virginia (Merrimack). On loan from the Navy, the gun will be placed on display at The Mariners' Museum CSS Virginia Courtyard. The first step is to remove the black paint and red primer and replace it with a thinner, more protective coat of enamel paint. Surface cleaning has revealed the commemorative inscription on the gun's breach. The inscription records the gun's action against the USS Cumberland and USS Congress during the Battle of Hampton Roads. Notice how the person who inscribed the word MERRIMAC ommitted the K.

Monitoring Monitor Artifacts

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:09:01 GMT

The Conservation department of The Mariners' Museum is responsible for treating over 1,500 artifacts from the USS Monitor. Not every artifact can be treated simultaneously so it is important to monitor their condition to ensure stability. Each week, a trained intern or staff member performs the Wet Storage Monitoring Survey and tracks solution levels, pH, temperature, corrosion potentials, current and voltage, etc. Staff members make appropriate corrections when problems in artifact storage or desalination are identified. Conservation intern Leanna examining the packing seal while performing the wet storage monitoring survey.

What's been goin' on....

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:49:42 GMT

We've been busy removing the concretions from a bunch of artifacts the past few weeks. Here's Gary using a hand-held torch to remove concretion from a most mysterious conduit...

and the winner is.....

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:19:36 GMT

Congratulations to Ayden for his winning guess of 2,225 lbs! The actual weight of the Monitor's packing seal is 2,251 lbs. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Guess the Weight!

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:07:06 GMT

Step right up, step right up! How much does the Packing Seal of the USS Monitor weigh? Correctly guess the weight of this marvel of technology a win a prize! This weekend marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads. Visitors to the Museum can sign up for Behind The Scenes tours of the Conservation facility and get a good look at the Packing Seal. After your tour, visit the ballot station and give us your best estimate for the weight of this artifact. � Guess must be given in pounds. � A prize will be awarded for the closest guess, over or under. � One entry per person. � You need not be present to win. � You must give a phone number or email address. � If you give an email address, you will receive information on upcoming events at The Mariners� Museum.

Wood Artifacts from Monitor's Turret

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:37:50 GMT

Our newest artifact to go through conservation is a wooden chest that was found inside of the turret. Once we began excavating the interior, we did not find any clues that held the secret to what the chest used to hold. The chest was found near a wooden drawer that is also being conserved, as well as a large decorative wood piece with a fleur-de-lis pattern. The drawer contains a lock that may match the skeleton key found in the pocket of one of the Monitor sailors that perished the night of the sinking. After closer examination of the engineering drawings and discussions of the sinking event, we noticed that the galley was located directly below the turret. This information in conjunction with the large amount of silverware that was found, suggests that the items in the galley came crashing into the turret when the vessel sank upside down. While we didn�t find any silverware inside of the chest, we think that the chest is from the galley area. The conservation of the chest has allowed us to collaborate with several other universities and institutions to determine what condition the wood is in. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to identify the type of wood that the chest is constructed from. Analysis revealed tulip polar, pine, and walnut species in various areas of the chest. Additional analysis determined that the wood is in very poor condition and has lost a lot of structural stability. This means the treatment that we will choose must provide a lot of support to the fragile wood. Right now the chest is visible in the wet lab and will be seen during the behind-the-scenes tours offered to the public on the Battle of Hampton Roads weekend. Stay tuned to see photos of the chest after treatment in a few months!

Firing Hammer from Port Dahlgren

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:27:35 GMT

We have completed treatment of the firing hammer from the right-hand side of the port Dahlgren gun from the Monitor's turret. The hammer, along with other ordnance items from the port gun, is labeled with 'No 27.'

CSS Virginia IX-Inch Dahlgren

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:52:10 GMT

A IX-inch Dahlgren from the CSS Virginia, owned by the US Navy and previously displayed in Fredericksburg, VA, is now undergoing conservation at The Mariners' Museum. This gun had a significant portion of its barrel blown off during combat with the Cumberland and Congress on March 8, 1862. The gun was later captured by the Union and inscribed "Trophy No. 1". A second engraving on the breach commemorates the weapon's involvement in the Battle of Hampton Roads, and it is done in the same style and font as the engravings on Monitor's two XI-inch Dahlgren guns. After conservation, the Dahlgren will be displayed at The Mariners' Museum in the CSS Virginia Courtyard of the Monitor Center. Virginia's damaged IX-inch Dahlgren with other ordnance in background Virginia's damaged IX-inch Dahlgren on display in Fredericksburg, VA

Tank Draining

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:10:42 GMT

This week we will be draining some of the large artifact tanks in the wet lab. Today we will be working in the condenser tank, tomorrow in the engine tank, and we will be working in the carriage tanks Thursday and Friday. Check out our webcams for a great view of the action. http://www.mariner.org/exhibitions/ussmonitorcenter/camera.php

Dahlgren Laser Scanning Images

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:24:53 GMT

Thanks to the great work of Survice Metrology and Steve Hand, we have these beautiful 3-D images of our starboard XI-inch Dahlgren gun.

Web Cams

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:37:49 GMT

We have 3 live webcams in the Batten Conservation Complex at The Mariners' Museum. Copy and paste the following address into your web browser: http://www.mariner.org/exhibitions/ussmonitorcenter/camera.php The first camera shows a spot in the lab where we work on complex composite artifacts such as Monitor's Worthington bilge pumps, blower/ventilation engine, and portions of the propulsion assembly. Our second camera peeks inside the turret tank. Right now the turret is undergoing desalination, but you can still see the top rim, support beam, and iron armor. The view is incredible when the turret is drained. The third camera shows Monitor's XI-inch Dahlgren guns and composite gun carriages in treatment. Take a gander!

Drawer from Monitor's Turret

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:12:55 GMT

The drawer shown above was excavated from the turret in 2002. Conservators have been removing concretion from the surfaces and are about to begin removing the iron staining from the wood. The drawer has a brass locking mechanism that can be seen in the X-ray image below. The numbers '2001' etc that appear are part of our labeling and not of the artifact.

Lantern Oil Reservoir X-Ray Images

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:26:02 GMT

We used our X-ray suite to take some excellent images of the Lantern Oil Reservoir featured below on September 15, 2008. From the image, you can see the remaining fuel and the wick used to light it.

XI" Dahlgren

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:41:29 GMT

I wanted to share this great picture of Monitor's starboard Dahlgren gun. We recently removed the gun from its desalination tank in order to perform a three-dimensional laser scan of the entire gun. Survice Metrology from Belcamp, MD performed the scan over the course of three days, and they are currently processing all the scan data they gathered. I will post a few images from the scanning process soon. In the meantime, you can check out some of their cool projects at: www.survice.com/metrology

Lantern Oil Reservoir

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:17:53 GMT

You may recognize the lantern in the photo below from the USS Monitor Center exhibit. The second image is the oil reservoir for the lantern. It would have held the fuel in the bell-shaped part. The orange-colored spot marks where the wick would pass through the reservoir to be lit. The oil reservoir is currently being desalinated and undergoing surface cleaning. We�ll keep you posted! Colleen conserving the lantern Oil reservoir from lantern

...up bobs the Monitor

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:29:03 GMT

Here's something fun that one of my husband's relatives handed to me at a family reunion in Poquoson this weekend. It's not an eyewitness account that I was familiar with - and a rather interesting perspective from the Confederate view..... Thomas E. Gibbs - Manchester Artillery, Co. J, Sixth Regiment, Infantry, Mahones Brigade From The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Employes [sic] Magazine (pp. 28-29 - but the year or issue number is not listed) �Ensconced in an arm chair, one of the survivors of the C. & O.�s �Old Guard,� Thomas E. Gibbs, 86 years old, gave the writer some corking reminiscences of not only Clifton Forge, but of Richmond, Va., where he was born. He came to the Company in 1898 as a Carpenter and served without a break until pensioned several years ago. Veteran Gibbs gave a thrilling account of the battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor, which he witnessed from a land battery of the Confederate Army, then on duty near Sewalls Point. He had been, in the early days before the war, an enlisted sailor in the U.S. navy, and his story of this memorable fight is perhaps one of the most accurate on record. We carry with pleasure his story of this fight as recently told to the Magazine�s representative and which appeared as a special article in the �Daily Review.� Mr. Hibb [sic] said: Quote:

We were stationed at Sewall�s Point. The Merrimac steamed down from the navy yard and passed our battery about 2 o�clock. She made no stops and steamed into the channel to Newport News where the Cumberland lay at anchor. When she got opposite the Cumberland she made straight for her and struck her amidship. The Cumberland reeled once to starboard, once to port and then settled down with her mast out at an angle of about 40 degrees. The Merrimac then retraced her route. In going the Newport News she passed the frigate Congress, lying opposite Hampton. The Congress at once headed for the shore. The Merrimac stopped and began firing into the Congress, setting her on fire. Our men sat up until 2 a.m. to see the explosion. When the noise was over there was not a splinter left of her. The Merrimac then came down to our battery and came to anchor. About sundown the writer, in company with Gen. Wm. Mahone and Major Smith, went on board, making the writer�s third trip to the Merrimac, all under difficult circumstances. The morning of March 9th the Merrimac got under way and steamed for Fortress Monroe, where up bobs the Monitor. The Monitor being of light draft, the Merrimac could not cope with her. All that saved the shipping was the Monitor. I think this is as true an account as we can get. THOS. E. GIBBS.�

Lest you think his timing is a bit off - I think his recollection of watching the Congress explode was an aside....

Second Worthington

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:17:20 GMT

We are well underway with the conservation of the second Worthington steam pump recovered from the USS Monitor. After initial documentation and x-radiography, we began to remove concreted sediment from the fragile components of the pump. It's primarily made of cast iron and copper alloys, but believe it or not many of the original rubber gaskets are still intact! The following pictures show the pump midway through deconcretion, and the third image shows the casting of the patent date on the side of the pump.