Thursday, May 19, 2016

Ramping Up to Save the USS Monitor Turret-- Part 1: Removing the Metal Shields

From the May 4, 2016, Daily Press (Hampton Roads, Va.) "USS Monitor gun turret: Ramping up to save a landmark artifact" by Mark St. John Erickson.

One thing I can say for sure is that Mr. Erickson sure gets all the good reporting stories.

There are ramped up efforts underway to raise funds to preserve the famous gun turret of the USS Monitor.  I was disappointed that the rest of the ship was unrecoverable, but at least this artifact, which set the level for naval armaments even to this day, was saved.

The huge container the turret sits in is now drained during weekdays while work is done on marine concretions both inside and out.  This time, in addition, a series of 20-inch wide metal shields in the turret's interior will be removed to remove the concretions and look for artifacts lodged behind them from the ship's sinking.

These shields were put in place to protect the Monitor's gun crew from metal fasteners blown off by the impact of enemy ordnance.

--Old B-Runner

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