Electrochemical treatment set-ups need constant attention in the “wet lab” and outdoor tanks, and environmental conditions in dry object storage also require our steadfast attention.

When salt gets into things it’s not meant to get into, it almost always causes problems, but the nature of the problem varies by material: organics (like wood, leather and cloth), metals (like iron and copper), and other inorganic materials (like ceramics, glass and stone).

Although my blogs to date give a very Dahlgren-centric view of what I do, there is far more to USS Monitor than just its guns.

Last month, we were able to complete one of the last major steps in the conservation of USS Monitor’s two XI-Inch Dahlgren shell guns: boring concretion out of the barrels.

Today’s question seems like a simple one – how long is a Dahlgren Shell Gun?

Marine archaeological guns always have one big problem in particular – how do you clean the inside?