The Sinking of the USS Monitor-- Part 1: Nine Months After Historic Battle With the CSS Virginia

From the History Site  "This Day in History" December 30, 1862.

On this day the USS Monitor, a truly revolutionary ship in naval architecture, sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.  Just nine months earlier, she had battled the CSS Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads, in one of the most famous naval battles in history.

After that battle, the Monitor supported General McClellan's Peninsula Campaign and after that was ordered to Beaufort, N.C., to join a fleet assembling for an attack on Charleston, S.C.,

The low-slung warship was fine in the protected waters of the Chesapeake Bay and James River, but the open sea was another matter.

The USS Rhode Island towed the Monitor to Beaufort, but extremely rough waters were encountered.  As the ship pitched and swayed the caulking around the turret  loosened and water began leaking into the hull.  Each roll opened more  seams and by nightfall December 30, the ship was in serious difficulty.

--Old B-Runner