Experience the world’s most accurate working miniature of Monitor’s propulsion system

Being the son of an auto mechanic, Rich Carlestedt was exposed to all kinds of mechanisms and instruments at a very young age. Around the age of nine, Rich read a fascinating book about the Civil War Battle of Hampton Roads and, as a result, he became hooked on USS Monitor. 

In 1997, Rich heard that the US Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were starting to recover major artifacts from the wreck site of USS Monitor. These efforts became the catalyst for him to begin a multi-decade journey to build a 1/16th-scale working miniature of the vessel’s propulsion engines, which will be on display at the presentation.