USS Monitor: Navy recognizes Virginia museum for cleaning of ironclad's two Dahlgren guns, which are still being conserved

Erik Farrell uses special drill in Dahlgren bore in early 2020 (Mariners' Museum and Park)

The conservation team that cleaned the inside of the 13-foot guns of the USS Monitor has been recognized with a maintenance excellence award from the U.S. Navy and a video showcasing the exacting work that involved precision tools and a whole lot of muck.

The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) awarded the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., a Pennant of Excellence for helping to preserve the heritage of the armed service.

In February and March 2020, the conservators removed the last concretion from inside the barrels of the smoothbore 11-inch Dahlgren guns.

They used a special drill and spade bit to remove the hardened mix of sediment and sea life. The weapons were inside the USS Monitor turret that was raised from the Atlantic Ocean floor in 2002 and have been in their own treatment tanks since 2004.

The first gun yielded pieces of crab, seashells and coal while the second held a bolt. Neither contained the remains of a cat that legend holds was stuffed into a barrel by a sailor moments before the USS Monitor sank on Dec. 31, 1862.

Once conservation is complete, the two guns will go on display. They will help tell the story of the innovative warship that tangled with the CSS Virginia in March 1862 – the first battle between ironclads.

"The guns still require additional work. Desalination has to be completed, followed by removal of the treatment solution, controlled drying, and the application of different coatings to strengthen and protect the guns,” Erik Farrell, an archaeological conservator, said in a statement to the Picket.

“Because of the fragility of the material, the guns cannot be dried until an environmentally controlled case is available. Funding dependent, the remainder of the conservation process is expected to take around three years," he said.

Farrell is among those showcased in the new video, which was produced by the museum and SoundVision Studios. It shows the boring process and includes interviews with those involved.

The museum team and Master Machine & Tool of Newport News built a custom boring apparatus and cradle support to clean the bores. The barrels had between 1" and 3" thickness of concretion covering them all the way down the bore and forward to the muzzle -- hence the need to clean the inside of the 8-ton guns and help remove harmful ocean salts.    

In 2018, Farrell and others traveled to a Naval History and Heritage Command facility to look at a similar Dahlgren -- one used by the USS Kearsarge, the sloop of war famous for sinking the Confederate raider CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France, in 1864.

They were able to measure the interior of the gun and learned both the Monitor and Kearsarge barrels -- which were made at the same foundry – were built to a specific Board of Ordnance pattern. The measurements would help crews know exactly how far down to drill without causing damage.

(Photo at left: One of the Dahlgrens in its treatment tank. The Picket took this photo during a visit a few years ago)

During the project in early 2020, water was pushed inside the barrels as the drilling did its magic, forcing sediment and muck out. “Sludge in this operation is a sign of success,” said one speaker in the eight-minute video. The effort included chiseling hard material to see what was inside.

The NHHC maintenance award is presented to nonprofits that demonstrate the greatest improvement in an artifact’s conditions over the past year.

Conservators with the pennant honoring their work (Mariners' Museum and Park)

“Private museums are critical in telling the Navy story, and this award recognizes The Mariners’ Museum and its Conservation team as a force multiplier in informing the public of our Navy’s history,” NHHC Director Samuel Cox said in a press release. “Their efforts honor those that have served as they continue to inspire and educate our next generation.”

Conserving the thousands of recovered items is not work for those who want instant results.

The process can take anywhere from months to years. The turret, which has been in a treatment tank for nearly two decades, needs another 10-15 years of conservation to draw all the salts out, officials say.

The museum has a blog with posts by USS Monitor conservators about the ongoing work to prepare artifacts for possible display. Click here to see posts about the boring and the turret.

One of the barrels before the boring project (Mariners' Museum and Park)