Cast iron, like steel and wrought iron, is an alloy consisting primarily of iron and carbon but has a carbon content usually in the range of 2- 4%, which appears as flakes of graphite intermixed within the material. Commonly, when cast iron is submerged in a marine environment, the iron component corrodes away, leaving behind [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]