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 about 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.

John Broadwater (photo below), a maritime archaeologist who has been on numerous Monitor expeditions and is a former superintendent of Monitor Marine National Sanctuary, was among those attending Saturday’s program and his name was mentioned when the unveiling turned to the animation.

“Two of the developers of that animation came up to me and enthusiastically said they were glad to meet me," Broadwater told the Picket. "One said that when she was working on the sinking sequence, she had my Monitor book ('USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage'] in her lap, trying to follow my description of the sinking, which was based on archaeological evidence and long discussions with naval engineers, salvage experts and my colleagues at the Marine Forensics Committee of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. From my perspective, Northrop Grumman and NOAA got it right."

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 for his thoughts on how the animation was done.

 “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 (Merrimack). In July 1862, the Monitor got a modified pilot house at the bow and extended air intake vents and smoke boxes toward 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.

Broadwater said he was impressed by Northrop Grumman’s technology and the educational products developed in cooperation with the museum.

 “I only wish we'd had that technology back before we recovered the engine and turret. I tried hard to get an accurate 3D image of the Monitor before we disturbed the hull.”

Wow factor: Hi-res views of USS Monitor will be unveiled March 7 at Battle of Hampton Roads event. The aim is to promote education, protection in a new way

Monitor has been on the sea floor163 years (NOAA/GFOE); sonar vehicle used in 2025 (Tane Casserley/NOAA)

The public will have its first opportunity March 7 to see new “groundbreaking” sonar-produced images of the USS Monitor wreck and a 3D reconstruction of what the famous Union ironclad looked like before it sank during a storm off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and Northrop Grumman officials will make the 10 a.m. presentation during the annual Battle of Hampton Roads event at the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va.

About 60 people will be able to attend the program at the museum’s Explorers Theater. Those unable to attend can register here to watch the presentation online.

A Northrop Grumman unmanned underwater vehicle created scans of the December 1862 wreck site during high-resolution mapping in September 2025. The vehicle is equipped with a micro synthetic aperture sonar (µSAS) system.

A Northrop Grumman vessel deployed the technology last September (Tane Casserley/NOAA)

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.

Discovered in 1973 and designated as the nation's first national marine sanctuary in 1975, USS Monitor rests nearly 240 feet below the ocean's surface.

“Along with these scans, Northrop Grumman created several new visualizations of Monitor for us to help interpret its historic legacy and its role now as a thriving reef,” sanctuary research coordinator Tane Casserley told the Picket.

The museum is hosting the daylong event remembering the March 8-9, 1862, clash between the innovative Monitor and the Confederacy’s Virginia.

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

The venue -- which houses thousands of Monitor artifacts -- said the aim is to improve interpretation and perhaps protection of the wreck, which is slow deteriorating.

Officials have been finalizing speakers for the program and have declined to release any of the sonar images ahead of the unveiling. Among those joining in the presentation are NOAA, museum and Northrop Grumman officials and technical experts.

The day’s activities (see details here) are aimed at inspiring young visitors to explore engineering, science and cutting-edge technology.

"By unveiling this new technology alongside hands-on STEM activities, we’re showing the community that history and innovation go hand-in-hand,” said Will Hoffman, director of conservation and chief conservator at the Mariners’ Museum. “These experiences provide visitors a new window into the past, enabling people to engage with USS Monitor through a different lens, and potentially, drawing in new audiences of all ages to learn about the little ship that saved the nation.”

According to a sanctuary article, all data products from the project -- including 3D models, visualizations, and animations -- will be transferred to NOAA and made available for public use, “supporting transparency, education and long-term stewardship of the site.”

Casserley said images and more details on the project will be released March 7 at the sanctuary website.

Battle of Hampton Roads anniversary: They flocked to a Va. museum to look at USS Monitor artifacts and get a good view of its turret, which is normally submerged

Patrons take photos of turret interior (Kyra Duffley/The Mariners' Museum and Park); view of exterior (MMP)

Hundreds of those attending a Battle of Hampton Roads anniversary event at a Virginia museum got a rare glimpse Saturday at the USS Monitor’s battle-marked turret out in the open, rather than awash in conservation solution.

Conservators at The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News in January accessed the turret for the first time in more than five years, following draining of the 90,000-gallon tank that surrounds the remarkable ironclad artifact.

Since then, a treatment solution has been drained and filled weekly as conservators perform maintenance in its interior. Dents from Monitor's 1862 duel with the CSS Virginia are visible today.

Will Hoffman, director of conservation, told the Picket the 20-year conservation process is working.

"What we have seen is the further loosening of corrosion since the last time we were in the tank. This corroborates what our electrochemical monitoring system has shown," he said.

Sabrina Jones, senior director of advancement at the museum, told the Picket in a Monday email an estimated 70 percent of Saturday's 1,000 visitors attended an open house at the “wet lab” that houses the upside-down turret and other Monitor items still undergoing conservation.

Following this weekend, a new treatment solution will be incorporated into the turret tank by the end of the week, Jones said.

"Conservators will not enter the tank again until maintenance is required (likely years) or until we are ready to 'flip' the turret. We do not have a timeline on the flipping as it needs several partners to 'engineer' it and a campaign to fund the materials and work," said Jones.

The tank was drained to allow for the assessment of the desalination process (removing harmful ocean salts), routine maintenance and the removal of nut guards from underneath the turret. The nut guards are the remains of thin armor plating used in part of the turret.

March 8-9 was the anniversary of the clash between the ironclad and Virginia.

Conservators perform maintenance recently inside the artifact (Courtesy Mariners' Museum and Park)

“That turret is the first turret that fought in combat in world history,” Hoffman told TV station WAVY ahead of the weekend. “Every turret on a ship, you know, from gun battleships all the way through now with autonomous Lidar you see on modern ships, all that comes from the turret that’s sitting in that tank behind me.”

The turret was raised off Cape Hatteras, N.C., by U.S. Navy and other divers in 2002 and brought to Newport News. The Mariners’ Museum and Park displays hundreds of Monitor items recovered since its discovery in 1973.

Many artifacts, including two Dahlgren guns, gun carriages and personal effects from sailors were recovered from inside the turret. The finds there included the remains of two men who were unable to escape when USS Monitor sank during a storm on Dec. 31, 1862, as it was being towed south in the Atlantic Ocean.

A child-sized display pool set up Saturday (Kyra Duffley/The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Saturday’s events included lectures, 3D-printed artifacts, a STEM design program and tours of the museum galleries. It was cosponsored by NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. This year's focus was about maritime careers, such as engineering and underwater archaeology.

"This weekend was an absolute home run as the galleries were buzzing all day with new and returning folks," said Jones.

USS Monitor Center director emeritus John Quarstein, who was among the speakers, told the Picket he has been inside the turret numerous times over the years.

Visitors gaze Saturday at the turret and other artifacts in wet lab (Kyra Duffley, Mariners' Museum and Park)

“My amazement is based on several experiences.... when I thought about the shot damage, when I think about the men serving in the turret and what they experienced, when I realize how the turret revolutionized naval warfare, etc. I also think about the many design flaws found when looking at the turret and then think about all of the graft, greed and grift involved in ironclad construction during the War of the Rebellion,” he wrote in an email.

Quarstein has a new book, “From Ironclads to Admiral: John Lorimer Worden and Naval Leadership,” coming out next month. Worden skippered the USS Monitor during the battle and later served on the USS Montauk.   

Retired atmospheric physicist and author Charles McLandress presented a lecture about William F. Keeler, his great-great grandfather. Keeler’s numerous letters home are the basis of a book by McLandress, "Ink, Dirt and Powder Smoke: The Civil War Letters of William F. Keeler, Paymaster on the USS Monitor."

“The main points of my talk were to highlight the importance and beauty of Keeler's Civil War letters and to tell the life story of this complex and fascinating individual (Forty-Niner, dry goods merchant, watch maker, iron founder, inventory, orange grower, newspaper correspondent and more),” McLandress told the Picket. “I interweaved the story of the Monitor with Keeler's impressions of events and people, with focus on the Monitor.”

The USS Monitor overcame doubters. Its crew trusted the ironclad, even during the terrible storm that sank the famous ironclad.

Monitor crew in July 1862 on James River in Va.  (Library of Congress)

Robert Williams (right)

On a summer day in 1862, a contingent of the USS Monitor’s crew gathered in front of its battle-scarred turret. A few sailors played checkers while others gazed toward a camera.

None of them looked more intensely at the photographer than Robert Williams, a fireman first class from Wales. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing his brawny, crossed forearms.

“There is a cockiness,” said David Alberg, superintendent of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, which protects the remnants of the Monitor. “That is the look of the hero.”

But that air of confidence couldn’t have been predicted just a few months before.

On March 6, 1862, the new Union ironclad – its radical design dubbed “Ericsson’s folly” by its doubters -- steamed down New York City’s East River for the short journey to Virginia. There were doubts about whether the Monitor could withstand the seas and intense enemy firepower; it fired only two cannons from the revolving turret.

“People thought these 70 men were going to their deaths,” Alberg told the Picket. “The crew was unconvinced. Many were seasick.”

But the small ship quickly challenged the heavily armored CSS Virginia upon arrival and ended the latter’s rampage against Federal ships. The stalemate at Hampton Road changed naval warfare and foreshadowed the end of wooden warships.

Harper's Weekly rendering of Monitor sinking (public domain)

While much of the USS Monitor’s wreckage remains where it sank during a storm off Cape Hatteras, N.C, on Dec. 31, 1862, the turret, guns, anchor, engine components and thousands of artifacts are housed at the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va.

An exhibit that opened last year features personal items – including shoes, a comb, buttons and pocket knives -- found near or with the remains of two sailors found in the turret when it was recovered in 2002. Sixteen men, including four officers, perished when the Monitor went down.

Despite advanced forensics testing and physical descriptions of sailors noted during their Civil War service, the identities of the two crew members remain unknown.

Sailor 1 is believed to be William H. Eagan, 21, or Jacob Nicklis (Nickles), 21. Sailor 2 is likely either William Bryan, 31, or Williams, 30, who worked in the engine room. A spoon on display has the initials “J.N.” and is believed to have belonged to Nicklis. In the top photo in this post, Bryan may be the kneeling man to Williams' right.

Judging from contemporary accounts and what was found in the turret (discarded footwear, silverware and clothing), there was a mad rush to escape through the turret when it became clear the Monitor was going to sink.

David Alberg

Lifeboats from the steamer USS Rhode Island, which was towing the ironclad to Beaufort, N.C., plowed through 30-foot waves to scoop up survivors in midnight maelstrom. Some onboard likely couldn’t swim, while others’ best chance was leaping from the deck into a rescue boat.

It’s unclear why the two men found in the turret remained on board. “They probably said, ‘Maybe the storm will lie down and they will send another boat back,’” said Alberg.

In the minds of the crew, he said, the ironclad had gone from an “iron coffin” on March 6 to an icon in December. “And it had served them well.” Amid the storm, their confidence “kept them on that boat.” 

USS Monitor was 'a strange ship'

Like much of the US Navy, the Monitor’s crew was a cross-section of 19^th century America. A few, including Williams and Eagan, were born in Europe. Three African-Americans were lost with the vessel off Hatteras.

The crew lived below the waterline, and oil lamps burned to make up for the lack of natural light in the iron vessel. Officers had better food and quarters while the enlisted men slept on hammocks in a common room behind the wardroom.

The USS Monitor is a “strange ship” for those accustomed to canal boats and traditional wooden vessels, said John Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center at the museum. For example, it had pressurized commodes. “Half of those people had never seen a commode.”

As one can imagine, life on the boat was almost unbearable during the summer months. A photo taken after the CSS Virginia clash shows a shade awning above the turret.

The crew did a fair bit of drilling, said Quarstein, and their work was subject to weekly inspections.

Panels in crew exhibit at Mariners' Museum (Picket photos)

Not a lot is known about Bryan and Eagan.

Bryan, like Williams, served on the ironclad during the battle with the Virginia. The New York native was an experienced yeoman.

Nicklis and Eagan, a relatively inexperienced landsman born in Ireland, were replacements brought on at the Washington Navy Yard while the boat was undergoing repairs in the autumn of 1862. By then, crowds cheered the Monitor and its occupants.

A good bit is known about Nicklis because of surviving letters in the museum’s collection, written to his father from Oct. 27, 1862, to Dec. 28, 1862. The young seaman from Buffalo, New York, stood 5 feet 7 inches and had a ruddy complexion.

Nicklis had enlisted in the Navy at age 16, but re-enlisted in 1862 for a one-year term.

Officers on the deck in July 1862 (Library of Congress)

Throughout his letters, Nicklis expresses his misgiving on serving on board the Monitor. He states that the turret is “getting weak” and that “they say we will have a pretty rough time a going around Hatteras but I hope it will not be the case.” 

The USS Monitor returned to Hampton Roads in November after it was repaired, and then it was ordered on Christmas Eve to steam to Beaufort.

Terrifying storm put it under

The pride of the US Navy left on Dec. 29, 1862. Two days later, it encountered a strong storm that had it floundering in the Atlantic waves. Not built to withstand the forces of the open seas, the ironclad bounced up and down, resulting in loosened bolts that allowed water to come in.

Landsman Francis Butts, standing atop the structure, later wrote that the waves “would leap upon us and break far above the turret” with “a shock that would sometimes take us off our feet.”

Commander John Bankhead ordered a red lantern (right) be hoisted to signal distress to the Rhode Island. The line between the two vessels was cut to minimize the chance of them colliding. The flooding continued during the rescues by leaky and overloaded lifeboats. Eventually, Bankhead ordered the crew to abandon ship.

Quarstein, author of “The Monitor Boys,” called the rescue of 47 USS Monitor crew members “a tremendous story of heroism” by the crew of the Rhode Island’s commander, Stephen Decatur Trenchard.

There was no requirement at the time of being a proficient swimmer, and most of the men knew if they fell into the water they were lost. A few slipped off the deck to their deaths, while others missed lifeboats.

“The people who are left in the turret when the second boat goes back, they are called to get into the boat by Bankhead. They are either too afraid or they think the boat is so overloaded.”

Rhode Island Acting Master’s Mate D. Rodney Browne and members of his crew rowed back for them (at least one member of the USS Monitor crew was below deck). The USS Monitor was gone.

Quarstein estimates about half of the 16 who died drowned, while the remaining went down when the USS Monitor capsized, turned over and hit the bottom.

Clash of the CSS Virginia and Monitor (Library of Congress)

Deep affection for Monitor's service

The USS Monitor retains its special place in US naval history. While it never engaged with the CSS Virginia again (the latter was destroyed to avoid capture after it was bottled up by the Monitor), the boat took part in the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, firing on a Confederate fort on Virginia’s James River.

But it’s best remembered for its heroics on March 9, 1862, a day after the Virginia sank the USS Cumberland and pulverized the USS Congress, which was set afire after capture.

The Monitor’s skipper at the time, Lt. John Worden, was ordered to protect the steam frigate USS Minnesota. The Virginia plowed toward the Minnesota but the Monitor interceded and the two circled for hours, firing broadsides and looking for weakness in the other’s armor. Both sides claimed victory.

The Minnesota was saved outright by the Monitor. According to the USS Monitor Center, “One Minnesota crew member had his tombstone designed to look like the Monitor -- the ship that saved his life.”

Fast forward to March 2013, when the remains of the two unidentified men found in the turret were buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (The bodies of the other 14 have not been recovered)

Reverse of coin has image of old USS Minnesota (NOAA)

Alberg, the superintendent of the Monitor marine sanctuary, told the Picket he has vivid memories of the day. About 140 descendants of the crew were on hand. “Some were of men who clearly survived. I have a photo of a lady laying her hands on the casket. I was very moved at how all 140 people viewed them as theirs.”

Front of coin (NOAA)

He keeps a coin given to him that day by the commanding officer of the new advanced nuclear submarine USS Minnesota. The reverse side includes an image of the Civil War-era USS Minnesota.

The gift was a token of appreciation – 151 years later – for the Monitor’s saving of the Minnesota.

“That short 10-second exchange will stick with me forever,” said Alberg. “It really showed … the power of the Monitor story."

• Part 1: These two sailors went down with the USS Monitor. Now you can see items they carried or were found near them.

'Stunning' coat worn by a USS Monitor sailor is conserved, will help tell famous ironclad's story

Sections of conserved coat. (Image courtesy of Mariners' Museum)

USS Monitor on James River in Virginia (U.S. Navy)

By now, they knew they were in serious trouble. Their vessel was rolling wildly in a terrible storm off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Leaks had sprung everywhere and the water pumps couldn't keep up.

The USS Monitor -- the famed ironclad that helped revolutionize naval warfare -- was doomed.

The battle to save the USS Monitor over, dozens of seamen rushed to make their way out of the boat's only available exit: The familiar cylindrical turret.

"People wrote of stripping off heavy clothing as they got off the ship," said David Krop, director of the USS Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va. "They were saying, 'I dont want to get pulled under in this outer clothing' and 'let's get out of here.'"

The USS Monitor, which had been under tow from Virginia to North Carolina, early on Dec. 31, 1862, slipped beneath the sea, its turret resting upside down on the Atlantic Ocean floor.

Sixteen men were lost, 47 were rescued and a stream of artifacts, including the clothing and shoes in the turret, over time became covered with sediment.

(Image courtesy of NOAA)

A pile of wool, stained in places, was found (above) inside when the turret was raised in 2002 for a long-term conservation process that continues today at the USS Monitor Center's lab. The 180 wool fragments were placed in frozen storage for four years.

Thinking at first it might be a blanket, staff members painstakingly worked on the pilot sack coat, ensuring it was stabilized and removing iron staining without taking out the color.

"It took many years to even know it was a coat," Krop recently told The Civil War Picket.

After years of conservation, USS Monitor Center and museum officials are excited that what turned out to be a double-breasted coat will go on display, likely next summer. The merino wool coat will again sport its hard rubber buttons found in the muck.

(Image courtesy of Mariners' Museum)

About 85 percent of the coat remains and though it can't be reassembled, visitors will be able to compare it to a more modern version and learn more about it through interpretive panels. "It is mind-blowing," said Krop.

The center does not know whether the civilian coat, fashioned by its wearer for U.S. Navy service, belonged to one of two crew members whose remains were found in the turret. One of the deceased sailor's was wearing two different types of shoes, a possible indicator of the mad rush to leave the USS Monitor.

The artifact will help further the museum's goal of bringing the human component to a story of the innovative ironclad that tangled with the Confederacy's CSS Virginia in nearby Hampton Roads in March 1862. The USS Monitor, while smaller, was more nimble than the CSS Virginia, and the two vessels fought to what many consider a draw.

Many museum visitors are interested in the USS Monitor's technology and innovations, including the turret and its eight steam engines. The largest engine also is being conserved in a large tank.

Pieces of coat during conservation process (Mariners' Museum)

But they also are curious about the vessel's crew. "When they see personal items, facial reconstructions or items with names," Krop said of visitors, "they stop dead in their tracks."

The director said the story of the coat encapsulates everything his staff does -- conserving about 1,600 artifacts while trying to add context to each item.

"That coat speaks to the struggle of people on the vessel trying to get off it," said Krop.

Matthew T. Eng of the Naval Historical Foundation wrote last month about a visit to the USS Monitor Center and his observations on the coat and its quality craftsmanship.

"The coat is absolutely stunning in person. The colors seem vibrant and alive, as if you just picked the coat out of the closet to wear. It is remarkable how together it looks. I have some clothes that look worse for wear than the Monitor coat," Eng wrote. "They have done a truly remarkable job keeping such a delicate artifact intact and well-preserved over a decade after it came out of the water. You can see every nuance and detail from the buttons."

The lab's work is aided by federal government funding (through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and contributions, including $20,000 put toward the coat conservation by the museum's Bronze Door Society.

Buttons that belong to the coat (Image courtesy of Mariners' Museum)

Officials want to keep actual and virtual visitors up on the results of such conservation efforts. Three webcams show ongoing conservation of the largest recovered pieces of the USS Monitor.

Tina Gutshall, a conservation assistant who has worked on the USS Monitor since 2002, has been operating the lab's social media accounts, since September 2012. Its Twitter feed is very active.

"We wanted to have something where we could keep throwing things out there to the public to try to reach as many people as we can. We want to share it."

Artifact images and information on the treatment process are particularly popular, with recent posts showing shoes, a spoon, the main engine throttle wheel, a ceramic dish and a sight cover for the turret Dahlgren artillery.

A website talking about work on the USS Monitor likened the shape of the sight cover to a piece of tandoori chicken.

Gutshall got a chuckle from that observation.

"It shows that (social media) is engaging people," she said.

COMING SOON: Q&A with Krop about the lab's ongoing work