Newport News - The Mariners' Museum

Ms. Wood, Ms. Edwards, Kennedy and I went to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News. We decided to focus our time on the Monitor Exhibit. The focus on the exhibit is on the creation of the battleship Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads (the Battle of Monitor and Merrimack)

Some interesting things we learned about the Monitor and the Battle of Hampton Roads

• It was the first naval battle between two ironclads (USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (USS Merrimack)
• The CSS Virginia was originally called the USS Merrimack. They build the CSS Virgina from the burned-out hull of the USS Merrimack.
• Battle took place on March 8-9, 1862.
• On March 8th - The Virginia went after and attacked several Union ships that were blocking the harbor.
• March 9th - The two Ironclad ships attacked each other. Neither side was victorious or the loser.
• This battle showed to the world that the ironclad ships were the future of naval warfare.
• The CSS Virginia was nicknamed "old rusty" and was one of the first ironclads ever made.
• The USS Monitor was designed by John Ericsson that had a rotating gun turret. It appeared very low in the water.
• Building the ship took less than 120 days.
• The commander of the Monitor was John Lorimer Worden. He received wounds in his face during the battle with the CSS Virginia. He was partially blinded by the explosion. He turned command of the ship over to his first officer Samuel D. Green.
• Other Union ships that were at the Battle of Hampton Roads - USS Minnesota, USS Congress, USS Zouave, USS Cumberland, USS Roanoke, and USS St. Lawrence.
• Other Confederate ships that were at the Battle of Hampton Roads - CSS Virginia, CSS Raleigh, CSS Beaufort, CSS Patrick Henry, CSS Jamestown, and CSS Teaser.
• On December 31, 1862 the Monitor took on water and sank off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Below are pictures that Ms. Edwards took at the museum.

Below is a picture of the weather vane.

Below is a picture of the USS Virginia attacking a wooden ship at the Battle of Hampton Road.

Here is a picture of the captain's room on the Monitor.

Here is a picture of the doctor's room. Ms. Edwards took my picture :)

Here is a picture of the replica of the topside of the Monitor. We were able to walk around the top of the mock vessel. It would have been cool if they could have created the whole vessel again and we could have walked through all of it.