The turret of the USS Monitor comes up for air

USS Cairo, Vicksburg, Mississippi

In 2002 the turret of the US Navy's first ironclad vessel, the USS Monitor, was recovered off Hampton Roads, Virginia. For the last nine years the turret has been resting in a pool of freshwater to prevent further corrosion. But for a short time, it has come up for air. Yes, there is a web cam keeping an eye on it. The Union's answer to the Confederacy's Monitor sank during a storm in 1862.

The New York Times not only gives the history of the building of the engineering marvel, it also describes the painstaking restoration of the turret.

Three years ago I visited the Vicksburg Battlefield in Mississippi, the recovered ironclad USS Cairo, which was sunk by a mine, also in 1862, is on display there.

Related posts:

Vicksburg Battlefield, Part Four, The USS Cairo

150 years ago: Civil War begins