USS Monitor

3D Model

The shipwreck of the famed Civil War ironclad USS Monitor is located 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, NC, in 240 feet of water. The Monitor is known for its participation in the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862 when the USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia to a stalemate, neither ship able to penetrate the others armor. While the battle may have been a draw, it did signal the end of wooden warships and ushered in a new era of naval warfare with metal hulled ships and rotating gun turrets. The shipwreck of the USS Monitor was discovered in 1973, and in 1975 became the nation’s first National Marine Sanctuary.

Credit: NOAA/Monitor NMS