Let me introduce our first guest. He is the director americas of the u. S. Monitor center in newport news, and im sure many of you have been there, if you have not, you need to go, its an amazing collection of material that they have there. Hes the author of 17 books, to that would be interesting to all of you is the csis virginia, sink before surrender, and the monitor voice, the core of the union first. He has received many awards, including the National Trust for president award for Historic Preservation and many others. His top today is the ship that save the nation, please welcome mr. Quarstein. Thank you. On march 8, 1862, there was a terrible day for the union. It turned the tide in favor of the confederacy when the css virginia emerged from the Elizabeth River and sunk two major union warships. The cumberland and the congress. The union navy was in disarray, people were in the white house looking out the curtains, down the potomac, fearing this super weapon, as they would call the merrimack, would be there soon and the war would end in a confederate victory. All was to change as if magic, because, that evening, a ship that was called like no other ship before, in fact, one person said a sailors eyes have never looked upon such a vessel. That is the uss monitor. The monitor is a very unusual vessel. It is made in three parts, the terror at six parts. The torrent turret sits on an iron deck. In the iron deck sits on a hall hull. Everything is below the waterline. One of my favorite stories is when the crew first gets on, two people desert immediately because it is so different. They have all of these new devices. John erickson, the inventor, will have over 100 taxable items, of which 33 are patented, and he gives those patents to the u. S. Navy. One of the most unique patents happened to be a compression commode. You live under the water, there is no doubt. One of the members of the monitors group, William Keeler, will be laying in his bunk and there are deck lights that brings daylight into the cabin. Hes reading, all of a sudden, it went dark and he saw fish over his light. So you can imagine this was the strangest ship ever seen. Somehow, it left in new york on march the sixth, 1862, encountering two storms on its way south. It almost sank twice. Somehow, she came into Hampton Roads just as the battle is concluding. She is a day late to do her duty. Nevertheless, the commander, a scientific officer in the old navy, he basically, as he looks across the Chesapeake Bay towards Hampton Roads, he sees all of these ships rushing out. He sees flashes of cannon fire in the distance. He will merely say they rushed out of Hampton Roads like a flock of chickens chased by a fox. It wasnt the monitor only went seven knots. Samuel said he had no sleep for 24 hours, trying to keep the ship afloat. They will go into Hampton Roads, pull up next to the frigate, the roanoke, and marsden says that monster came out yesterday and the minnesota, in other steam screw frigate, 47 tons, sister ship of the original merrimack is run aground on the hampton barr and you need to position yourself next to it. Here comes the monitor, 127 feet and bank in length. Its nine feet off of the waters edge what ares edge. He pulls next to the minnesota, 45 feet off of the waters edge. Finally, it will explode. It is terrible for the union. The commander of the minnesota is a man who looks down and says, what are you . Worden says on the monitor, here to protect you. He says, i dont know what youre going to do, but if that thing comes back, i will fight my ship and sink before surrender. He commonly said, i will protect you. I want to tell you about the monitor. Weve got about three feet extra headroom in the sketch. Everything was compressed within the monitor. The hall, one of the problems is there is an overhang over the whole the hull, one of the problems is there is an overhang over the hull. The virginia came out of here on march 8, had to come up like this, come here, rams and a sink the cumberland, sinks the congress, and the minnesota had cut the corner of what is known as hampton bar. She is sol so badly stuck aground. The virginia came back to a buoy at 6 30 in the morning. She is ready to go. They have breakfast, which was like the breakfast i had this morning with two boiled eggs and two tiggers of whiskey. The fog is there so she is delayed and starts to move like this. The monitor will all of a sudden appear. John taylor woods says no one has ever seen anything like that. The acting commander, roger jones, said it is the battery, look out for hot fight. Basically, for the next batch that is the sinking of the cumberland, very dramatic. Its like a pick me against a giant. The virginias 262 feet virginia is 262 feet. The pilot house is out in front, and then there is the tourette turret. They have bad communications between the pilot house and turrentt turret. When the monitor sank, what are had gotten into the tube, so it didnt work. Inside, there are white marks to tell you the captains order. If you are in a spinning turret, do you know where that is . If you are using black powder, are the white marks covered up . And can you see out of the turret . We have to look over the top of the 11 inch guns and you see a dark object guns, and you see a dark objects, you fire. One of those would be the pilot house. It is called monitor roulette. Out of 41 shots, they only hit the virginia 20 times. That tells you that there is bad fire control. Virginia doesnt have the proper ammunition on board. One of the ships inventors is John Mercer Brooke and brooke will have invented not only the virginia with its submerged ends, but also the finest rifle canyon of the civil war canon of the civil war. And he invented the brooke bolt which is an armor piercing shot. If you look at the torrent of the monitor turret of the monitor, you can see where the brooke bolt it the bolt hit the bolt hit the turret. Theres another gun commander known as john randolph. P is just ending behind his gun every so often, snapping his finger that she is just standing behind the gun every so often, snapping his finger. He says why arent you firing the gun . The man says i can do as much damage that the ship by snapping my fingers than firing my guns and powder is precious, sir. Well, this battle will continue for four and a half hours. Im not here to talk about the battle. Im here to talk about that at the very end, these ships almost touch each other. The confederates cocked concocted plan that i have a bunch of volunteers, we will jump on the deck of the monitor, kickoff our coats, cover the pilot house, stuff them down the smokestacks, and we got a bunch of chloroform and we will throw it in the turret. They dont do that. Because it is kind of a crazy plan. At the very and of the battle, the virginia is starting to rise, higher and higher, because of the use of coal and gunpowder. And worden decides he will run at the tail of the virginia because you can see the propeller turning churning. You build up speed, heads right to the tale, but then, there is a steering a function. The monitor veers off, and as a result, the virginia and a john taylor would will fire a seven inch shell that hits the pilot house, throws part of it off, and blinds worden. Then, the battle is over. It is a drawn battle. The monitor had stopped to the virginia from destroying any more wooden ships. Likewise, the virginia had been successful enough so that she blocked the james river during the beginning of the peninsula campaign, which will cause the flag officer Lewis Goldsborough to get a disease in 1862 known as ram fever, or merrimack on the brain. In other words, he closes the james river, refuses to run past yorktown, and mcclellan is forced to lay siege. Well, not forced to lay siege, its mcmillan mcclellan. After the battle, these officers of the monitor, these people are heroes. William keeler, who kind of looks like john lennon there, right . Anyway, he will write that when you walk into an eating establishment at monroe, you didnt have to pay a thing. Daniel toffee had to take a message to washington. Daniel toffee was the captains click. He went into the hotel and was defeated with the most lavish meal fed with the most lavish meal. These guys were on the little ships that saved the nation. That made them heroes. The big thing is that the monitor will serve during the peninsula campaign. The monitor was not a nice ship to serve on. Number one, she is painted black until august, and light gray then. In july, she is painted black, in the james river where the temperature in the engine room is up over 130. In the galley, which is next to the boilers, it is 140 degrees. Mosquitoes and flies have gotten into the area. One of them said the mosquitoes was as big as hummingbirds. The monitor, after serving in support of the peninsula campaign, will come down to Hampton Roads. She is then ordered up to the Washington Navy yard. During this time, she goes through a series of officers, including samuel dana green. For three oneday. For three days, it was thomas sofresh. Thomas jeffers then takes command and he will be a hated commander. Nothing has been happy on the monitor since you left, can you please come back . Signed, the monitor boys. The big thing is, the monitor, you can see how they modified the pilot house. This was done by alvin steiners so it had sloped armor. When she is in the Washington Navy yard, they put patches on her where sean had been hit. They have a larger telescoping smokestack. The problem with the monitor is she has to bring in air to peter engines and entire ship. To feed her engines and entire ship. She comes down, after being refitted at the Washington Navy yard, her new commander is john pine. Pine bankhead. He was born in Fort Johnston south carolina. His father was a general. Nevertheless, he replaces other captain another captain. That guy was a drunk. My favorite story about him was that they were supposed to move up the appomattox river. The union submarine, the alligator, then commanded by thomas selfresh junior. Ever ship he is on that sinks has a c in it. Bottom line, they were coming down the Hampton Roads and had this great christmas dinner, it is amazing. In fact, Jacob Nicholas will write his father, i am becoming a hogg. The food is so good. We had chicken stew, oysters, turkey, suite and irish potatoes. Sweet and irish potatoes. To end it all, we had oranges, apples, and nuts, and the best fruitcake ive ever had. Ive never had good fruitcake. The cook ruined the meal. It was not worth the dollar we paid. On that day, they gave orders to go where . Down south. Their supposed ahead towards beaufort, North Carolina because the federal navy, at that time, was considering an operation against wilmington, North Carolina. The monitor will be told south by this ship. This ship is the rhode island 236 feet in length iron hall hull. She is commanded ironman known as Stephen Decatur trenchard. Trenchard is the most famous rescue at sea individual at the time. He rescued several crews. The most important was in 1856, when during a gale, he is in a Coastal Survey ship, the uss and nixon, uss nixon, and the ship ran a rocks 200 yards ashore. He saves every crewmember, and it is so impressive that Queen Victoria will give trenchard a gold presentation sword. But wait, trenchard cant have its because of the emoluments clause. The big thing is that he had to have a special act of congress to have him receive the sword. Has the monitor as they toe down, they get hit by a terrible storm, 50 not wind, rain squalls, snow squalls, sleet squalls. Finally, John Bankhead john pine bankhead has to raise the red lantern up, and immediately, trenchard organized two ships to come over to the monitor and rescue the crew. The big problem is is that the rhode island cannot come alongside the monitor. The fear was a wave could pick it up and drop it on the monitor. Or, the monitor could be thrown into the side of the rhode island. 63 men on board the monitor, this is a whole ring a harrowing night. The wind is screaming, and one crew member in the turret gets so upset with the screaming of the ships cat that he grabs the cat, throws her in the barrel, and puts a tempe on afterwards. He could still hear the screaming of the cat. You can well imagine. They have this latter ladder, but the latter got washed away ladder got washed away, but theyre coming on ropes. You get on the deck and you have to come across to jump into this longboat. You have to jump probably here to hear. Here. There are several recorded that people that missed, daniel moore, it was said the last thing we heard of him was a gurgle. William keeter vascular William Keeler is on the deck. He jumps toward the longboat, mrs. Misses. However, someone grabs him and brings him into the boat. James fenwick will be washed off of the bowel when he is trying to get the hogs line and so will william wentz. Napoleon stoddard will be able to cut the line so the monitor the action happening as the monitor is picked up and slapped back down is the monitor is picked up and slapped back down. Many of the crew members thinks the ship will fall apart before she actually will think. Anyway, they have two longboats. They come over, pickup crew members, and William Keeler said he arrived with not a stitch of clothes on. And freezing. You can imagine the conditions. Dr. Grenville weeks, and one boat that is cracked, gets next to the rhode island, bumps against it, he puts his arm out, dislocate his arm, crushes Three Fingers and someone says oh my gosh, your arm is terrible. And he says, my arm is worth a life. The last rowboat will try to come back onto the command of rodney bozeman brown. Hes guided toward the red light, and all of a sudden, a swell brings him up. As he comes down, the light is gone and the monitor is no more. This is about 12 30. You have about 30 people on the rhode island saying it is 12 15, 12 30, 1 00. I tend to go with the ships log of rhode island which says 12 30. The monitor is no more. 16 people were lost, 47 people were saved, and it shocks the nation to see that the monitor is no more. When the monitor sank, she sank by her whole hull. And she turns like that. The turret falls off because one of the troubles is that the turret sits in a brass ring. It is a spindle operated turret, and it is faulty. They jacked it up and put oakum under it to stop leaks. The turret falls off, comes down, hits the bottom, and turns over, upside down. Then, the hull comes down and comes down as you can see, over part of the turret. That is how she is going to be discovered in 1974 by dr. Newton. Dr. Newton is with the duke Maritime Research institute. They pick it up on sonar and they, then, will be able to put these composite pictures. Once you find the monitor, that is fine and dandy. What are you going to do about it . Well, basically, lets see, over 50 years later they start to make decisions to bring up objects. The first object is going to be this. This is the famous red lantern, right . That was hung from the area around the terrorist. They had no way of climbing to the top, over the canvas cover, to put it up there so those pictures are wrong. Oddly, the last thing seen is the first thing found. You have to realize that, basically, the Mariners Museum was selected to be the depository for all monitor objects. For the first 1015 years of the project, isnt this great . Its down there and we get these objects up, which are pretty fabulous. All of a sudden, there is the idea, we actually can bring parts of the monitor upthe owner of the vessel is no aha, and they orchestrated a partnership they selected the Mariners Museum to be the suppository, and than they actually go to the u. S. Navy, and we get the cooperation of what is known as dive team 6. These guys recover the monitor is in 235 feet of water. This means you cannot just put on scuba diving, go down there. It is a very serious impression diving. At first, more objects coming up. Then, the idea is that we cut away the whole section of the monitor. By cutting away this section m eans we can bring up all of this armor plate, we can bring up the propeller, we can bring up the entire engine room. This is the oldest complete 19thcentury steam engine maritime steam engine in the world. So, we bring up the engine, we bring up the armor plate, then the idea is, lets bring up the turett. The turet turerett. She weighs 120 tons free tons. You have to realize the monitor was the plate, that is all made in baltimore, then it is shipped of the Staten Island where it is put together, and then what do they figure out . Oh, we cannot pick up the tour turret soup on the monitor. They have to take it halfway apart, ship it over, reap the play on. The monitor is built in just over 100 days, and they are over 30 manufacturers are part of the construction of the monitor. This is an Assembly Line production and, the likes of which had never been seen. All of these parts have to, and they are all purposed fit. The turret weighed 120 tons, then 10 tons of concretion, then two 11 inch doll during guns at 8000 daldren guns at 8000 pounds each. The lift component it is complex. Basically, we have to figure out how to bring it up. The divers, we build a frame. Then we build what is called the spider. Ooh, gosh. The spider is designed by nasa. It is fabricated by the newport news ship building which is right down the street from the Mariners Museum. The first time out there, they have to fit this underneath the turret. The turret has to be jacked up on the bottom and then have this plaque form plate under her, and then we have to bring this of these arms go out like this. You are doing this in 235 feet of water. How may have been off of Cape Hatteras before . Is it happy water . No. I had to go out there one time and they said, you better take your dramamine. I said, they probably know what they are talking about