USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, Newport News, VA

 

Cannon from CSS Virginia

Today, we visit the Mariner’s Museum and Park in Newport News, VA. Our primary objective is to visit the USS Monitor Center and indeed we spent three hours here. This was founded after the raising of the turret of the Monitor from it’s watery grave. That turret is still being prepared for exhibit. It’s been in a tank for over 10 years, trying to remove the material it collected on the ocean floor. But don’t worry they have numerous exhibits that recreate the entire Monitor including its turret. In addition, they have also recreated the interior of the Merrimac and as you enter the exhibit there is one of the original cannon from the Merrimac, or should I say C.S.S. Virginia. For the confederate navy, without the means to build new ships, they raised the sunken wooden ship, USS Merrimac, from the harbor and then plated it with iron to create the first ironclad, renaming it the CSS Virginia. The Virginia’s primary mission was to break the Union Blockade of Hampton roads.  On March 8^th it came out of the Elizabeth river and laid course for the USS Cumberland. It rammed the Cumberland, sinking the ship. Then it tore into the USS Congress, which had grounded itself in their panic. The Monitor had been built in only 100 days and had a unique feature: a rotating turret with two guns. They arrived the night of March 8^th and were ordered to protect the USS Minnesota, still in the harbor. About midnight they saw the Congress blow up when fire reached its powder magazine. In the morning, the Monitor pulled up next to the Minnesota to provide protection. Both the Merrimac and the Monitor fired at each other. The Monitor only periodically, since once they started rotating the turret, they couldn’t stop it. Both survived and they ended the day parting ways. The Monitor pulled into the river, but became trapped there, and the crew scuttled the ship a few days later.

Monitor's Propeller

We would highly recommend this museum, especially if you’re into the Civil War. Take in the movie which explained a lot the battle. There are other things to visit here too, but we had already spent 3 hours at the Monitor Center and called it a day.

Mockup of the interior of the CSS Virginia