A halberd recovered from Jamestown entered the conservation lab last week! We are assisting Colonial Williamsburg conservators with the treatment. The weapon consists of an axe blade (iron), a hook (on the opposite side from the axe), and the iron head is topped with a spike (the spike is bent, see picture below). The handle [...]
This is a nice shot by Jason from photography of the three recently conserved Dahlgren gun tools: a sponge on the left, a Robinson worm in the middle, and a shot ladle on the right. Handling the objects during the photo session reminded us of how fit the gunners had to be to do their [...]
This object was recovered in 2001 from the Monitor’s wreck site. Since its recovery, there has been much speculation as to the function of the artifact. It has been suggested that this object served as some kind of valve, possibly within a radiator-like system. It is also thought that it may be a component of [...]
The Monitor’s engine room was equipped with two steam powered Worthington pumps for clearing bilges and acting as boiler water feed pumps. Both pumps were recovered from the wrecksite and have been undergoing conservation at The Mariners’ Museum. When they first entered the lab these pumps were covered with a hard, thick calcareous marine crust [...]
Recently we did some work on Monitor’s twin vibrating side-lever steam engine (seen here submerged in its treatment tank). This engine is almost the size of my kitchen. Made mostly of cast and wrought iron it weighs approximately 30 tons. In order to keep it submerged in treatment solution this 40,000 gallon tank (the square [...]
Hey folks, Josiah here. I’m relatively new to the Monitor Conservation Project, on a yearlong fellowship to help with all of the work to be done here and to learn about marine archaeological conservation as I go along. One of the most interesting things that I am learning from working here is the logistics of [...]
Just in time for Battle of Hampton Roads weekend, 10 newly conserved artifacts are now on display at the USS Monitor Center, helping to tell the story of the Monitor and the CSS Virginia. Visitors to the Monitor Center are now greeted by the muzzle of a IX-inch Dahlgren shell gun which was used on [...]
The Monitor’s clock movement was in amazingly good condition after 139 years in saltwater, due to many of the parts being made of high quality brass and copper nickel alloys. The use of nickel in some of the components was verified by elemental analysis performed at the College of William and Mary materials characterization laboratory [...]
The Mariners’ Museum is once again hosting the Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend this Saturday, March 6! Drop by the museum at 10:00am to see costumed interpretors firing cannon (so loud it shakes the building), museum and NOAA experts giving lectures on the USS Monitor, CSS Virginia, and artifact conservation, listen to Civil War music, and participate in children’s [...]
The USS Monitor’s engine room clock will be exhibited in a new display beginning March 5th 2010 at The Mariners’ Museum’s USS Monitor Center. Although the sturdy brass case and silvered face of Monitor’s engine room clock went on display with the opening of the USS Monitor Center in 2007, the mechanical heart of the [...]
