Monitor Restoration

The bits and pieces of the USS Monitor salvaged from the sea are placed in the Mariner's Museum. As you return to the main lobby, a small display is just past the desk. However, the large pieces are outside in conservation tanks. The engine and propeller were salvaged years ago, and other pieces lie submerged in a number of tanks. You can walk up the stairs and look in. Much is murky and sun glare can be difficult, but you can make out some shapes.

In the foreground, tanks holding Monitor relics. The background tank holds the turret. Large tanks like this one hold the engine and other parts.

Monitor Engine Restoration Photo (very slow: 302K)

The turret, recently brought up, is in a new tank that has yet to be fully open to the public. We got lucky in that they were draining the tank in preparation to refill with new preservation fluid. A porthole is at the bottom of the tank, allowing you to look in. The view is restricted, but I was able to snap a photo of at least a piece of the turret which had been cleaned of 150 years of gunk.

The Monitor turret, or at least a part of it. Upper right shows the turret exposed, while the left side shows the build-up that is slowly being removed.

Monitor Turret Information Photo (slow: 188K)

Inside the museum is a replica turret built on the floor so you can walk inside. But I get ahead of myself.

Ships and Shipbuilding

Part of the job of the Mariner's Museum is the preservation of not only the ships that plied the waters of the Bay, but the methods by which the ships were built. Continuing outside, the cabin of a tugboat sits under a roof, while in the next shed over, craftsmen were building a 40-foot or so ship hull.

More of the Mariners' Museum

Introduction
Chesapeake Bay Gallery
Monitor Restoration
Age of Exploration
Defending the Seas
Collections Gallery
Great Hall of Steam
Crabtree Collection of Miniature Ships
Other Galleries
Gift Shop and More

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