The two XI-inch Dahlgren smoothbore cannon from the USS Monitor were removed from the vessel’s gun turret on Sept. 9.
Conservators from The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., joined with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and riggers from Northrop Grumman Newport News to lift and move each cannon into individual tanks where they will spend the next five years undergoing electrolytic reduction conservation process to reduce their corrosion and remove chlorides from the iron.
According to artillery historian Wayne Stark, the Dahlgren shell guns are Registry Numbers 27 and 28, completed at West Point Foundry in 1859. They were inspected by Navy ordnance officer Timothy A. Hunt. Stark says they weigh 15,720 and 15,617 pounds, respectively.
“Once they came out of the water and are now almost on dry land, they became the lowest numbered surviving XI-inch Dahlgrens,” he says. “They brought the total number of known surviving XI-inch Dahlgrens to 24 out of the 465 made from 1856-1864.” Eight foundries produced the guns.
Stark also reports, “There are no interesting little tidbits in the Navy cannon registers about these two — just a comment ‘Lost on Monitor Dec. 31, 1862.’” When asked why these guns are indicated as XI-inch, not 11-inch, Stark said that Lt. John Dahlgren’s personal papers and Navy records use Roman numerals for all types of Dahlgren guns, but no others.
The Monitor sank off the coast of North Carolina on Dec. 30, 1862. Almost 100 years later, scientists discovered the wreck, which became the nation’s first national marine sanctuary in 1975. In 1987, NOAA designated The Mariners’ Museum as the repository for all artifacts and archives from the USS Monitor. Since then, the museum has received more than 1,500 artifacts from the vessel, including the anchor, propeller and steam engine.
According to a museum spokesman conservators are expecting the conservation process to slowly reveal the engravings “Worden” and “Ericsson” placed on each cannon during the Monitor’s time in the Washington Navy Yard after its battle with the CSS Virginia [Merrimack].
Capt. John Worden commanded the Monitor during the March 9, 1862, battle at Hampton Roads, Va., and John Ericsson designed the ironclad. The Monitor’s unique feature was its revolving gun turret with the two huge Dahlgren guns that rested amidships of the vessel.
The revolving turret allowed the Monitor to aim her guns more efficiently and at advantage over the Virginia, which had 10 cannon, but had to aim by moving the entire ship.
The Mariners’ Museum is raising $30 million for the USS Monitor Center. It will be the definitive national authority and repository for the artifacts and all other materials, research and programming related to the Monitor. The center will also recount the story of the CSS Virginia.
NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program has provided $9.5 million in federal funds toward the $20 million that will be raised from public sources. The Mariners’ Museum is conducting a $10 million private sector campaign raising funds from corporations, foundations and individuals. The Monitor Center will open on March 9, 2007.
For more information call (757) 591-7738 or visit www.mariner.org.