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  • USS Monitor Center

    • Civil War
    • Conservation
    • USS Monitor

    Experience the fear, the awe, and the excitement during this extraordinary time in our nation’s history.

  • 20th Anniversary of USS Monitor’s Turret Recovery

    2022 marks the 20th anniversary of raising the famous ironclad’s gun turret off the ocean floor, where it sat for 140 years. Just like the innovative weapon, this feat was revolutionary. The divers, archaeologists, engineers - the US Navy, NOAA, and countless others, worked together to accomplish this mission. This video celebrates all of these people who made this happen!

  • An Uplifting Story: Recovering Monitor’s Artifacts

    • Civil War
    • Conservation
    • USS Monitor

    On December 31, 1862, USS Monitor was caught in a storm and sank 16 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in more than 230 feet of water. It is believed the vessel went down stern first, turning over so that its revolutionary 120-ton revolving gun turret separated and became pinned under the ship on the seafloor.

  • “In the Land of Submarines”: Moving Nishimura-style no. 3746

    • Conservation
    • Military
    • Technology

    We can handle a lot of heavy lifting with our staff, but sometimes we need to call on outside experts for help. Such was the case with No. 3746, a Japanese mini-submarine designed by Nishimura Ishimatsu. We needed to lift the sub onto a custom cradle and relocate it.

  • Come see our new Clean Lab Observation Area 👩‍🔬🔬

    If you've ever wondered what exactly goes on behind closed doors at a Museum, now is your chance to cure that curiosity!

  • The Mystery of the Frankenphora

    • Collections
    • Conservation
    • Cultural Heritage

    Amphorae are terracotta containers used for trade as their unique shape allowed them to fit snugly together in a ship’s hull. Since the Neolithic period, this shape has been in use and migrated to Europe during the first millennium BCE.

  • USS Monitor Wellington Boot Re-Treatment

    • Conservation
    • USS Monitor

    This treatment is a “re-treatment.” Occasionally, we’ll have an object that needs to be re-treated for various reasons. In this case, the Wellington boot was on display in our Monitor Center gallery. It is one of two boots from USS Monitor excavated from the turret and is the most complete of the pair.

  • Spring (Dry Ice) Cleaning

    • Conservation
    • USS Monitor

    The Monitor crew is busy with spring cleaning. Dry ice cleaning, that is. Last month we tackled Monitor‘s skeg assembly.

  • Lifting and flipping USS Monitor’s Condenser 🏗️💦

    For the first time in 160 years, USS Monitor's condenser bed is right-side up! In this video series, you can watch our Conservation team separating the condenser and its support bed, flipping the bed, and lifting both elements into their new treatment tank.

  • USS Monitor Skeg Elements Move

    Watch our Conservation team move USS Monitor's skeg elements out of their treatment tanks and over to our tank farm where they will undergo dry-ice cleaning.

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