USA: NOAA Celebrates 150th Anniversary of USS Monitor Launch

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries today launched a new website highlighting the 150-year history of the USS Monitor on the anniversary of the ship’s launch.

The website takes viewers from the iconic warship’s construction through its recovery to recent science expeditions undertaken to protect its legacy. The website, also offers students, teachers and history enthusiasts a variety of education materials and a calendar of upcoming events celebrating the Monitor.

“This is a momentous year for an influential piece of American history,” said David Alberg, superintendent of NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. “While today marks the 150th anniversary of the launching of the USS Monitor, we will continue to mark important dates throughout the year, including the Battle of Hampton Roads and the sinking of the USS Monitor, through special public events.”

Designed by Swedish-born engineer and inventor John Ericsson, the USS Monitor was a Civil War-era Union ironclad warship that revolutionized naval warfare with innovations such as its low profile, iron armored deck, and rotating gun turret. The Monitor is best known for its battle with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia off Hampton Roads, Va., on March 9, 1862. Their battle marked the first time iron ships clashed in naval warfare and signaled the end of the era of wooden warships.

The year 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the USS Monitor

Related articles

• USA: NOAA Celebrates RMS Titanic’s 100th Birthday
• USA: Newport News Shipbuilding Drives Local Economy
• Dung Quat Shipyard Celebrates Vietnam Petroleum Cultural Week
• USA: NOAA Awards Supply and Installation VFMMS Contract to Krill Systems
• GDBIW Wins USD 680 Million Contract for Construction of Two DDG 51 Destroyers (USA)

Source

Related articles

• 2011 Civil War Navy Conference (markerhunter.wordpress.com)
• Hampton, Virginia Hosts Hunt for Hampton History: The Civil War 1861 (prweb.com)
• How the first ironclad changed world history (cbsnews.com)
• NOAA ship Fairweather maps aid shipping through Bering Straits (scienceblog.com)
• caj: NOAA: La Nina to end this spring (washingtonpost.com)
• NASA Receives New Atmospheric Data From Suomi Satellite (informationweek.com)