Submerged NC: How a NOAA-led Team Recovered USS Monitor’s Most Famous Components

The North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) joined a webinar presented by NOAA and the office of the National Marine Sanctuaries for presenting the Submerged NC: We Rescued the Monitor: How a NOAA-led Team Recovered USS Monitor’s Most Famous Components. NAMEPA appreciated the opportunity to learn from Dr. John Broadwater and his team’s efforts to recover the USS Monitor.

Dr. Broadwater, former Superintendent of Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, discussed how Monitor was discovered in 1973, 16 miles off the coast of North Carolina. In 1975, the wreck became designated as America’s first national marine sanctuary. Starting in 1998, a series of deep-water expeditions recovered Monitor’s propeller, steam engine and the famous rotating gun turret.

We loved learning about the importance of this ship, its history, and the long journey of bringing the engine, turret, and propeller of the USS Monitor. It was also very interesting to discover the processes that the NOAA-led Team had done to remove these items from the ship. NAMEPA thanks the NOAA team and organization for this opportunity to learn this integral piece of maritime history.