Ironclad reborn.

One hundred and forty-five years after it was lost, a piece of naval history will once again be seen by the public.

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Artifacts of the USS Monitor, which sank in the stormy seas of the Atlantic in 1862, will be on display in a special wing of the Mariners'

The Mariners' Museum, designated in 1987 as the principal museum for artifacts and scientific and historical data of the USS Monitor, will open its $30 million USS Monitor Center to the public on March 9, 2007. The day will mark the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Civil War battle between the Monitor and rival ironclad CSS Virginia that forever altered the way naval warfare was conducted.

The wing's opening will also coincide with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.

At the USS Monitor Center visitors will be immersed in artifacts and interactive multimedia in order to learn everything about the Battle of Hampton Roads, the significance of ironclad vessels, and the excavation and conservation of the Monitor. The 63,500 [ft.sup.2] project will hold a state-of-the-art conservation facility, archives, and a full-scale recreation of the Monitor.

The USS Monitor Center will also offer visitors the opportunity to see the human face of the Monitor and the Virginia through Personal Story Stations. These interactive facilities will offer visitors the chance see photographs of crewmembers and officers, read their letters, and hear their experiences aboard the ship.

The stations will also provide visitors with the chance to hear the accounts of Dr. John Broadwater and Jeff Johnston from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who were on hand for the Monitor's four major recovery expeditions, including the raising of the gun turret in August 2002.

DESIGN OF THE MONITOR

So, why all the fuss over a ship that sank within a year of its construction? In 1862, Swedish-American engineer John Ericsson introduced the maritime world to the USS Monitor, the first functioning turreted ironclad war vessel in history. Even though Ericsson had worked on ironclads in London in the 1830s, this particular design was a technological marvel. The ship housed all of its systems below the waterline, including the engine, propeller, anchor, and living quarters. In fact, this was the first vessel in which crew and ranking officers shared a living space, a practice that was uncommon up until that point.

Comprised entirely of iron and sitting a mere 18 inches above the waterline, the Monitor was not as vulnerable as wooden vessels to the threats of naval warfare. Lacking the broadside canons that were standard artillery on warships, Ericsson designed the Monitor to include a rotating turret with a 200 degree-turning radius.

The rotating gun turret enabled the Monitor to remain stationary during battle. It was equipped with two Dahlgren smooth bore cannons, the most powerful and accurate of the time.

Up until this point, warships were forced to position themselves broadside so that the canons faced the target. This was particularly for a sailing vessel, which had to constantly adjust itself for each volley.

The turret, however, was not the only technological innovation on the Monitor. According to Anna Holloway, curator of the USS Monitor Center, the vessel itself held over 200 patentable items on it, including Ericsson's own screw propeller, a four-pronged anchor, the Dahlgren guns, and the first below-the-waterline flushing toilet, the equivalent to a modern marine head.

Although hundreds of replicas followed in the years after the original was constructed, the Monitor was an unrivaled prototype.

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At a critical phase in the Civil War, the U.S. Navy Department gave Ericsson an unheard of deadline of 100 days to complete construction. With refinements and modifications made to his original blueprint, the engineer, who vowed never to work with the U.S. government 17 years earlier, came through.

"Ericsson was a genius, there's no doubt. He knew what it took to get the ship built," said NOAA's Jeff Johnston, Program Specialist, Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

A HOT BOX

The design of the Monitor was unique, but not without its flaws. Due to its compact size and lack of proper ventilation, the Monitor's crew was forced to suffer through stifling heat (with temperatures reaching more than 150 degrees in some parts of the ship) and humidity. Ericsson even wrote to his colleague and Chief Engineer, Isaac Newton, that he could not fathom living on the Monitor in the summer on the James River.

Living quarters were cramped and uncomfortable. At the USS Monitor Center visitors will be able to walk through a reconstructed version of the living quarters.

CSS VIRGINIA BORN

On April 17, 1861, Virginia seceded from the Union. Two days later, President Lincoln blockaded the Southern coastline, a military strategy officially designated The Anaconda Plan.

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On April 20, Union forces burned most of Gosport Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va., in order to prevent valuable supplies and ammunition from falling into the hands of the Confederacy.

When the Confederacy took control of the badly damaged shipyard, it was able to salvage the remains of the ships that had been set afire, including the USS Merrimack.

Meanwhile, the Confederate State of Virginia was tasked with developing a Naval fleet with little or no resources.

After Lieutenant John Brooke and John L. Porter had generated a design for an ironclad for the Confederate Naval Department, William P. Williamson was assigned the task of engineering the vessel. By recycling the engines and hull from the Merrimack, construction of the new warship began. The finished product was an iron covered wooden sailing vessel, newly christened the CSS Virginia.

The Virginia was built with six Dahlgren guns, but the design still incorporated four rifled broadside cannons. The steam engines salvaged from the Merrimack had by then been condemned by the U.S. Navy. The Virginia's top speed was a mere five knots, compared to the Monitor's seven, and it took nearly 40 minutes to complete a full turn.

BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS

Located at the mouth of the James River, Hampton Roads led directly to the Confederate Capital at Richmond. For the Union, seizing control of this area meant gaining the upper hand in the war.

After being launched at Greenpoint, N.Y., on January 30, 1862, and suffering a tumultuous journey to the Chesapeake Bay, the Monitor finally arrived at Cape Henry, Va., on March 8.

While the Monitor was sailing towards Cape Henry, the CSS Virginia was in the process of decimating the Union fleet at Hampton Roads. Its attacks on the USS Cumberland and USS Congress killed 240 Union sailors. This was considered the worst day in U.S. naval history until Pearl Harbor in 1941.

During the early hours of March 9, the Monitor anchored in what Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene described as an "atmosphere of gloom ... and the pygmy aspect of the newcomer did not inspire confidence among those who had witnessed the day before."

Having been forewarned of the approaching Virginia, the Monitor prepared for battle. At 8:45 am the battle of the ironclads at Hampton Roads had commenced.

Four hours of fighting from a range of 100 yards to only a few feet, the Virginia was able to blow up the Monitor's pilothouse, blinding Capt. J.P. Worden. Deciding to withdraw in order to assess damage, the Monitor gave the Virginia the impression it had suffered serious injury. The Virginia continued on, attempting to disable the USS Minnesota, but in failing to do so, retreated back to the Gosport Shipyard. Although the battle was officially a draw, both sides claimed victory.

More importantly, naval warfare had been revolutionized. History--whether it is American, scientific, or military--had been made. "Nobody won, but in a single day, all the navies of the world became obsolete," stated Bruce Catton, Civil War historian.

THE END OF THE USS MONITOR AND CSS VIRGINIA

On May 11, the Confederate fleet was forced to evacuate the Norfolk area and relocate to Richmond. However, because the Virginia required 22 feet of water to float, it was incapable of sailing up the James River. Fearful their beloved ironclad would be taken by the Union, the Confederate troops blew her up that evening.

After the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Monitor was used primarily to protect Union ports, seeing no major engagement.

STORM CLAIMS THE MONITOR

In December 1862, the Monitor was relocated from Hampton Roads to Beaufort, N.C. During the trip, the ship encountered a severe storm and was swallowed up by the sea off the coast of Cape Hatteras, otherwise known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," on New Year's Eve, 1862.

THE USS MONITOR WRECK

In 1973, the wreck of the Monitor was found 16 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras under 240 feet of water. By 1975, NOAA had declared the site the first national marine sanctuary, and multiple recovery exhibitions were performed in order to conserve as much of the Monitor as possible; the first artifact recovered was the signal lantern last seen by observers as the ship slowly sunk to its death.