|
Chronology of the Rediscovery of the USS Monitor
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.
First Previous Next Last
Go to Main Category:
The Monitor Today
Go to other documents in this category:
The Mariners' Museum and the Monitor
National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA-Sponsored/-Permitted Expeditions to
the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
The Monitor Collection
|
![[ Navigation Bar ]](../../resources/navigation.gif){kind=small}