A Knife Found In USS Monitor's Turret-- Part 2: The Top of the Turret Constructed of Railroad Tracks

The roof of the USS Monitor's turret is constructed of railroad tracks which means there are many nooks and crevasses of concretion that has to be taken off.  Lots of places for small items to have fallen while the Monitor was sinking.

Hundreds of items spilled into the turret as the Monitor as it sank.  Two of the missing 16 crew members were found in the turret.

The finds of so many pieces of cutlery in the turret, some of sterling silver, brings forth the question as to why there would be so many.  Perhaps some sailors were trying to steal them or maybe they just tumbled from a drawer below deck.

Most of the knife's blade and all of its wooden handle survive on the knife.  It will be treated and will make a "fantastic addition" to the vessel's collection.

--Old B-Runner

A Knife Found in USS Monitor's Turret-- Part 1

From the September 10, 2017, Civil War Picket Blog.

Pieces of cutlery have been found as conservators continue to cut away sediments from the roof of the turret, which is turned upside down.

Last month they found a small knife wedged into one of the rails that forms the turret's ceiling.

So far, they have gathered a collection of over twenty pieces of silverware from various locations in the turret.

The turret is upside down, so sits on its roof in the lab.  Part of the conservators' work consists of removing ocean salts in the iron of the turret.  Then they clear away mud and concretion.  They also know of a fork in an area they can't get at right now.

--Old B-Runner