Good morning to all our readers. We’ve been very busy in the Batten Conservation Complex inside the USSMonitorCenter over the past few weeks preparing to drain USSMonitor‘s 90,000-gallon revolving gun turret treatment tank for assessment.
Well guess what? The tank is now drained andMonitor‘s gun turret is visible in the open air for the first time in over three years. The excitement in the lab is palpable, and we have an ambitious two-week (July 27 – August 7) work window within the lab.
In October of 1862, USSMonitorwas at the Washington Navy Yard for some maintenance and repairs. A commemorative inscription was stamped onto the breech of both ofMonitor‘s XI-Inch Dahlgren shell guns at this time to celebrate the Battle of Hampton Roads by recognizing the important men and vessels that participated in the conflict.
The port Dahlgren was inscribed: “WORDEN. MONITOR & MERRIMAC.”
Our good friend Dr. Francis DuCoin has been busy! Check out his new hi-def photo mosaics of the exterior and interior of USSMonitor‘s gun turret in the latest issue of Civil War Times.
Additionally, he wrote a brief update on the slow but steady progress being made by conservators in the lab to stabilize the 120-ton wrought iron turret.
150 years ago, these men served aboard the ironclad USSMonitor.
10 years ago, NOAA and the U.S. Navy recoveredMonitor‘s revolving gun turret and transported it to The Mariners’ Museum for conservation and exhibit.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see
the USS Monitor’s gun turret
conservation in action!
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