USS Monitor: How was it modified during its brief service? How did it sink? Remarkable 3D images, animation will add to our appreciation of ironclad, crew

View of the bow and forward section, with armor belt section nearby; 3D model of USS Monitor as it appeared in July 1862; another view of the inverted hull, captured last fall. (Northrop Grumman)

New breathtaking, high-resolution images of the USS Monitor wreck are available on a government website that includes animation of the famous ironclad’s sinking and 3D models of how it appeared at various times during its brief life.

NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary rolled out the page – which includes a four-part timeline of the vessel – on Saturday after a presentation on the results of a September 2025 mapping of the wreck site off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

Sanctuary research coordinator Tane Casserley told an audience at Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., that the ironclad, despite damage from its March 1862 fight with CSS Virginia, its sinking ninth months later and artifact recovery projects 25 years ago, looks great.

“It is in fantastic shape, so the same armor belt that was built to repel cannonballs in the Civil War is now holding that cultural heritage together today,” he said. “I was surprised by just how intact things were.”

NOAA and its partners Northrop Grumman and Stantec showed off some of the sonar-produced images of USS Monitor, which was discovered in 1973. A Northrop Grumman unmanned underwater vehicle was equipped with a micro synthetic aperture sonar (µSAS) system during the expedition. The system is a big upgrade over old side-scan sonar.

The system penetrated low-visibility conditions to generate extraordinary imagery of the wreck and its surrounding debris field, including detailed views of hull remains and internal structure, according the museum.

The website features a 41-second animation of the Monitor’s sinking during a storm on Dec. 31, 1862. The clip shows the doomed ironclad bobbing in heavy seas and the “glub glub” of water as it dips beneath the surface and turns before slamming into the sea floor 240 feet down. The turret tumbles away upon collision.

Sixteen men, including four officers, perished when the Monitor went down. The remains of two sailors were found in the turret when it was recovered in 2002. The turret and hundreds of other Monitor artifacts have been or are being conserved at Mariners’ Museum and Park.

The vessel’s stern and part of the starboard side struck the sand as it landed upside down. The bow and forward section are still intact.

The new images shows the stern is gone, with some of that displaced by the recovery of the turret, anchor and other components from 1998-2002. (Image at left, Northrop Grumman)

The Picket asked Casserley how the animation was done.

“The sinking animation is based on our NOAA documentation of the shipwreck site and on the archaeology conducted during the conservation process at The Marines' Museum,” he said in a Monday email. “When the wreck was discovered in 1973, we observed damage at the stern and starboard side, as well as rudder missing from the site. From these observations and damage found to some of the aft bulkheads we recovered, we can theorize how the vessel sank -- which is reflected in the animation.”

Images on the website show a detached part of the ironclad’s armor belt and some wire rigging used during salvage operations. Navy divers had to remove a section of the belt and some hull plating during the recovery of the turret, which rested beneath the vessel.

The sonar imagery is so precise you can see an automobile tire or two that somehow came to be in the area.

Mariners’ Museum and Park -- which houses thousands of Monitor artifacts -- said the aim is to improve interpretation and perhaps protection of the wreck, which is slow deteriorating.

Those interested in 3D modeling can turn to the NOAA website and Sketchfab to see three reconstructions of USS Monitor produced by Northrop Grumman, a defense contractor. Viewers can use their mouse to see the vessel from different perspectives.

Built as a prototype for a brand new type of warship, Monitor was continually improved during its brief life afloat in 1862. These improvements included different deck layouts.

3D deck view of the Monitor as it appeared during the Battle of Hampton Roads (Northrop Grumman)

The first image shows the ironclad as it appeared for the March 8-9, 1862, Battle of Hampton Roads against the CSS Virginia. In July 1862, the Monitor got a modified pilot house at the bow and extended air intake vents and smoke boxes towards the stern.

The third model is an artist’s interpretation of work in November 1862 at the Washington Navy Yard. Repairs and further improvements were undertaken. A telescoping smokestack and taller air ventilation boxes were fitted, which improved efficiency, according to NOAA.

Saturday morning’s presentation also heralded the Monitor’s role as an artificial reef and thriving ecosystem. A Northrop Grumman “Wreck to Reef” visualization shows how the wreck hosts fish, invertebrates and plant life.

Kelly Swindle, a senior marine biologist with Stantec, said the team took environmental DNA sampling from the water around the wreck and identified several fish, including the lancer dragonet, largehead hairtail, pearly razorfish and the twospot flounder.

Cannon damage on USS Monitor after clash with CSS Virginia (Library of Congress)

Casserley told the audience people can learn so much new about the ironclad from the comfort of their armchair. “We can now bring Monitor to you virtually.”

“It's one thing to read a historical account and it's a whole other experience seeing it come to life before your eyes,” he told the Picket in the email.

The sonar images help the agency track changes over time “by showing the hull and armor belt integrity with hyper-accuracy. It will provide the sanctuary with a valuable baseline for future monitoring and inspire the next generation of marine scientists and archaeologists alike,” Casserley wrote in the email.