The archaeology of shipwrecks is an academic field that focuses on studying and exploring shipwrecks of the past. The shipwrecks discovered all around the world serves as a bridge to understanding the past and the lost cultural heritage, and teaching lessons on “how the environment and human error can damage each other.” One of the most famous and historic shipwrecks that helped shape the United States’ maritime warfare is the USS Monitor. Through the help of modern underwater technology, the shipwreck of the USS Monitor is an incredible discovery because of its historical impact in America’s bloodiest conflict. The USS Monitor’s shipwreck is very significant because of its innovative design, its historic role in the Civil War, and its artifacts …show more content…
The USS Monitor’s final order was to report to Beaufort, North Carolina to join “USS Passaic and USS Montauk for a joint Army-Navy expedition, where she would join the blockade off Charleston.” Aforementioned, the USS Monitor’s river combat features such as the low freeboard and its heavy revolving gun turret made the ironclad warship vulnerable to the high tides of the ocean. On an unfaithful day of 31 December 1862, the USS Monitor, towed by the USS Rhode Island, was taking in a copious amount of water during a heavy storm. Captain John Bankhead of the USS Monitor immediately sent a distressed signal to the USS Rhode Island, but the damage was already done. The USS Monitor, along with sixteen members of its crew, sank to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. With the sinking of the USS Monitor, a part of history went down with …show more content…
Through these images, the United States Naval Intelligence Support Center helped support the mission of collecting artifacts by creating a complete photomosaic of the shipwreck. The photomosaic of the shipwreck provided detailed features of the shipwreck for the scientists to examine. Because of the modern underwater technology and tools, several significant artifacts that includes but not limited to George S. Geer letters, revolving gun turret, two cannons, anchor, and the red lantern were carefully extracted from the shipwreck. These artifacts provided insight of the 1800s technology advancements and life aboard on the USS Monitor. For example, the revolving gun turret, recovered in 2002, was the first of its kind on a naval vessel. In addition, the letters of George Geer provided an insight of a sailor’s life aboard this historic vessel. Most, if not all, of the USS Monitor’s artifacts and replicas are currently displayed at the Mariner’s museum in Newport News, Virginia. The USS Monitor shipwreck is currently preserved as a national historic landmark by the Monitor National Marine
The American Turtle was ready for her initial mission on September 6, 1776, just after midnight in the New York Harbor. The operator, Ezra Lee, failed in his attempt to sink the HMS Eagle because he failed to secure the screw of the gunpowder magazine to the ship. The Turtle made two more attempts to sink enemy ships but they both failed. The end of the American Turtle is unknown. Some think she was accidentally sunk, dismantled, or destroyed. The Turtle was the very first submarine to be used in the...
Archaeology is a continuously evolving field where there is a constant stream of new branches and excavation methods. Due to the influx of new technologies and innovations in recent decades, archaeologists have been able to excavate previously inaccessible areas. For example, new diving equipment and tools such as proton magnetometers, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, and miniature submarines have allowed archaeologists to dive into the deep depths of the ocean. As a result, the branch of underwater archaeology was created to search for shipwrecks and other artifacts on the ocean floor. Underwater archaeology’s role has increased in recent years as it allows archaeologists to more accurately interpret the past by supplementing information gained through traditional land excavations.
Titanic and the SS Maheno. The well know ship “The Titanic” now lies 3,800 m under water off the shore of Newfoundland where it sunk back in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg, the ship is now rapidly rusting and disintegrating. The SS Maheno is a major tourist attraction that lies on the east coast of Fraser Island, Australia. It was a trading ship between New Zealand and Australia from years 1905 to 1935, and also participated in World War I for the New Zealand Naval Force. The wreck was left there to disintegrate after the owners refused to pay to move it. Corrosion is ‘a chemical process by which a metal is oxidised. ’ (corrosionist.com). Iron is the only metal that rusts and occurs out of the chemical processes, oxidation and reduction. In most cases, corrosion of iron occurs when the metal is losing its electrons, this is oxidising. Another cause behind the occurrence of rusting is ‘rust eating bacteria’ at deep enough levels of the ocean. And finally, abiotic factors such as salinity, pH and oxygen levels have an impact on the rusting or shipwrecks. The last cause to be discussed is environmental effects such as salinity, pH and oxygen levels.
The USS Indianapolis was a heavy cruiser. She did not have heavy armor which made her vulnerable to torpedo attacks. She had been ordered to sail on July 16, 1945, to deliver a bomb that would end the war. Unfortunately, it sank before it arrived.
The Civil War in the United States from 1861 to 1865 serves as a dark reminder of how disjointed a nation can become over issues that persistently cause heated debate among party factions. Most students that have taken courses in American history understand the disadvantage possessed by the Confederate States of America as they fought against the powerful Union army for what they perceived as a necessary institution of slavery. Historians have debated over the effectiveness of the blockade and if it was important in creating the failures faced by the Confederate States of America. This debate has generated the contested question of “Did the Union blockade succeed in the American Civil War?” The blockade, whether considered a success or an absolute failure on the part of the Union, holds grand significance in the history of the United States. The increased development in the Union’s naval department correlates directly with the necessity of possessing ships that could withstand the threat of blockade running.
The captain was Franklin Buchanan and he had 300 men in the crew. Most of the men were soldiers recently assigned out of artillery regiments. And there were very few sailors in the South, so most were clueless on where to go or what to do. When everything was done and she began to move, it looked like the Merrimac was capable of doing what she was meant to do. The Northerners were warned about this ironclad “monster” and were waiting for this moment for a long time.
The Civil War consisted of many legendary battles over the soil of the United and Confederate States of America, which will be retold for generations in history books. Although these land battles were indeed great, the concept of this paper will be the Naval warfare of the Civil War, paying certain attention to the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac.
Since commercial shipping began on the five Great Lakes, there have Been six thousand shipwrecks. Half have never been found. There are three storms
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the limits of innovation are often put to the test. In the case of a submarine launched to sea in 1938, the USS Squalus, bad luck proved disastrous. Within minutes of a test dive, twenty-six men drowned. Years later, Peter Maas compiled the known information about the tragedy into The Terrible Hours: The Greatest Submarine Rescue in History. Over the heartbreaking journey of hopelessness to hope, crisis to survival, and depths to ascension, Maas weaves the sad tale depicting the unknown dangers that technology possesses.
The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City ,the sinking of the Titanic caused the deaths of more than 1,500 people. Amongst the research into the Titanic besides the shipwreck itself, was to see the social classes that were present on the Titanic. Before the shipwreck itself there isn’t much to go off of to see the socio-economics of the people who were boarded on this ship so Cameron and a team of researchers went on an expedition. “He developed and piloted a new class of nimble, fiber-spooling robots that brought back never before images...
... (Lukee 3). Not one survivor emerged from the wreckage and the fate of the ship lasted unknown for almost three centuries (Lukee 2). The wrecked slave ship was found in 1972, during a magnetometer survey, operated by a subsidiary of Mel Fisher's Treasure Salvors, Inc (Lukee 4). Some artifacts were collected from the wreck that included bilboes and iron shackles that were used to restrain slaves (Lukee 4). When they realized that the wreck was most likely a slave ship and not a treasure ship, the company reburied the ancient findings and pieces of the ship hull that they had exposed and left the site.
Its purpose was to protect the hull of the ship, but whenever they were able to obtain it for investigation, it showed to be almost completely shattered (Bassett). This meant that yet another device for protection was made of poor quality material, and led the ship to its downfall. Had the whole body of the ship been covered with a higher quality metal, perhaps any damage to the ship would not have allowed for the same amount of damage that was seen and witnessed on that night.
The tragic history of the Titanic, the sinking of the “unsinkable” giant of a ship shocked the entire world and contributed to important shifts in the mass consciousness of the people who lived at that period and assessed the achievements of new technologies and their role. However, one would have been hardly able to predict in 1912 that this tragedy, no matter how significant and meaningful, would leave such a deep imprint on the history of human civilization. The continuing interest in the fate of the great vessel has taken the form of various narrations and given rise to numerous myths enveloping the true history and, in this way, often obscuring the facts related to the tragedy. In recent years, this interest has been emphasized by the dramatic discovery of the wreck and examination of its remains. The recovery of artifacts from the Titanic and the exploration of the site where it had sank stimulated new speculations on different issues of the failure to rescue the Titanic and the role of different factors contributing to the disaster. These issues have been traditionally in the focus of discussions that caused controversies and ambiguous interpretations of various facts. They also often overshadowed other parts of the disaster story that were confirmed by statistical data and revealed the impact of social realities. The social stratification of passengers that reflected the social realities of the period and its class interests determined the chances of survival, with most of those perished in the Titanic disaster having been lower class individuals.
...the government removed the remains of the wreckage and bodies of those who died on the ship. They also buried the bodies in Arlington National Cemetery and some at their hometowns. A memorial with the ship’s mast was placed in Arlington National Cemetery to honor the lives lost from the explosion.
A Russian spy ship was spotted patrolling off the East Coast of the United States on Tuesday morning, the first such instance during the Trump administration -- and the same day it was learned the Kremlin had secretly deployed controversial cruise missiles inside Russia and flew within 200 yards of a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials told Fox News.