Thursday, August 30, 2007
Trip to The Mariners' Museum
On June 15, 2007, my son, Joshua, and I visited the new civil war attraction at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. The museum, among other things, is filled with rare ship figureheads, handcrafted ship models, Civil War ironclad USS Monitor and CSS Virginia artifacts, and paintings, including walk on full-scale replica of the Monitor, revolving gun turret, interactive exhibits and high-definition battle theater.
The most unique ships constructed for 1860's navy were ironclads. They were the modern day battleships because these were the first ships made entirely of iron. Both the Union and Confederate navies built ironclads, and two of the most famous ironclad ships were the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly, the Merrimack) fought a four-hour battle with each other to a stalemate at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862.
The Virginia's crew set the ship on fire to avoid capture. Later, the Monitor sank in a storm off Cape Hatter, in 1862, as it was being towed to Beaufort, North Carolina. The wreck was discovered in 1973 and brought up in 2002.
The Mariners' Museum is now the home of Monitor with various ship artifacts that have been recovered to date, including the famous rotating gun turret. Conservationists are working on conserving the ship and slowing the aging process. For now, many of the recovered artifacts, including the turret, are being kept in a treated bath of fresh water.
I highly recommend the new exhibit.
For more information, go to:
http://www.marinersmuseum.org/
http://www.monitorcenter.org/
http://www.monitor.noaa.gov/
::Shelley
The most unique ships constructed for 1860's navy were ironclads. They were the modern day battleships because these were the first ships made entirely of iron. Both the Union and Confederate navies built ironclads, and two of the most famous ironclad ships were the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly, the Merrimack) fought a four-hour battle with each other to a stalemate at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862.
The Virginia's crew set the ship on fire to avoid capture. Later, the Monitor sank in a storm off Cape Hatter, in 1862, as it was being towed to Beaufort, North Carolina. The wreck was discovered in 1973 and brought up in 2002.
The Mariners' Museum is now the home of Monitor with various ship artifacts that have been recovered to date, including the famous rotating gun turret. Conservationists are working on conserving the ship and slowing the aging process. For now, many of the recovered artifacts, including the turret, are being kept in a treated bath of fresh water.
I highly recommend the new exhibit.
For more information, go to:
http://www.marinersmuseum.org/
http://www.monitorcenter.org/
http://www.monitor.noaa.gov/
::Shelley
Labels: Ironclads, Mariners' Museum, Merrimack, Monitor, Museum, Navy, Virginia
