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| '''USS ''Monitor''''' -- Looking like a "Cheesebox on a raft", this ] ship is most famous for its participation in the first ever naval battle between two ironclad ships when it battled the ] near ], Virginia on ] ]. The ship was engineered by ]. Although the battle itself was inconclusive, the ''Monitor'' trapped ] in the ]. Neither ship played much of a subsequent part in the war. | |||
| The ship consisted of a heavy, round iron ] on the deck, which housed two large cannon. The armored deck was barely above the water line. Aside from a smoke stack and a few fittings, the bulk of the ship was below the water line to prevent damage from cannon fire (torpedoes, ie, anchored ]s were a concern, though self-propelled ] would not be a worry for another 50 years). ''Monitor'' was launched on ] ]. | |||
| ''Monitor'' was one of the most innovative naval vessels of all time. It was the first ship made almost entirely out of iron. Parts were forged in nine foundries and brought together to build the ship. The entire process took less than 120 days. Other innovations included the "cheesebox", which was the first rotating turret, it was the first naval vessel fitted with Ericsson's ] and it even anticipated some aspects of ] design by placing all facilities but the turret under water. In contrast, ''Virginia'', erroneously known by its Yankee name ''Merrimack'', was a conventional wooden vessel covered with iron plates and with fixed weapons. | |||
| ''Monitor'' was lost at sea during a heavy storm, swamped by high waves and sunk on ] ]. | |||
| Already three months after the famous battle the design was offered to ] and in ] the first Swedish monitor was being built at ] in ]. The first one was named ''John Ericsson'' in honour of the constructor. It was followed by 14 more monitors. One of them, ''Sölve'', is preserved at the marine museum in ]. | |||
| In 1974, the wreck of ''Monitor'' was located on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean off ], ]. The wreck site was designated as the United States' first marine sanctuary. The Monitor Sanctuary is the only one of the thirteen national marine sanctuaries created to protect a cultural (as opposed to a natural) resource. | |||
| ==External Links== | |||
| *: Its 'revolutionary' gun turret has been raised from the ocean floor. | |||
| * | |||
| * at the Mariners' Museum, ], ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 18:15, 22 April 2004
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