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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Monitor (1862-1862) --
Loss of the Ship, 31 December 1862
After a hot summer of routine duty in the Hampton Roads area,
Monitor badly needed an overhaul. This work, done at the
Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., fitted the ship with a telescopic
smokestack, improved ventilation, davits for handling her boats
and a variety of other changes to enhance her fighting power and
habitability. She returned to the combat zone in November 1862,
remaining in vicinity of Newport News for the rest of that month
and nearly through the next.
In December, Monitor was ordered south to join the blockading
forces off the Carolinas. After preparing for sea, on 29 December
she left Hampton Roads in tow of USS Rhode
Island, bound for Beaufort, N.C. The weather, expected
to be good for the entire voyage, stayed that way into the 30th,
as the two ships moved slowly along, several miles off the North
Carolina coast. However, wind and seas picked up during the afternoon
and turned to a gale by evening. The Monitor labored heavily
as she neared Cape Hatteras, famous for its nasty sea conditions.
Water began to enter the ship faster than the pumps could expel
it and conditions on board deteriorated dangerously.
Shortly before midnight, it was clear that Monitor was
in grave danger. Her steam pressure was fast failing as rising
water drowned the boiler fires. The tow line was cut, the anchor
dropped, and distress signals were sent to the Rhode Island.
Boats managed to remove most of the ironclad's crewmen under extremely
difficult conditions, but several men were swept away. Finally,
at about 1:30 in the morning of 31 December 1862, the historic
Monitor sank, to be lost to human sight for nearly 112
years. Sixteen of her crew of sixty-two were lost with her.
This page features views related to the loss of USS Monitor,
31 December 1862.
For links to more pictorial coverage of USS Monitor,
see:
USS Monitor (1862-1862) --
Selected Views.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 58758
"The Wreck of the Iron-clad 'Monitor.'"
Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863,
depicting USS Monitor sinking in a storm off Cape Hatteras
on the night of 30-31 December 1862. A boat is taking off crewmen,
and USS Rhode Island is in the background.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 169KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 51957
"Loss of the 'Monitor' in a Storm off Cape Hatteras, December
30th, 1862. -- Gallant efforts to rescue the Crew by the 'Rhode
Island'."
Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War",
Volume I, page 248. It shows USS Monitor sinking at left,
with a boat picking up crewmen, as USS Rhode Island stands
by in the right background, firing rockets.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 163KB; 665 x 675 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 79913
"The Monitor's Tragic End"
Artwork published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page
39, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907.
It depicts USS Monitor sinking off Cape Hatteras during
the night of 30-31 December 1862, as a boat approaches to rescue
some of her crewmen. USS Rhode Island is in the left distance,
firing a rocket.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 163KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 1279
Loss of USS Monitor, 30-31 December 1862
Halftone reproduction of a Civil War era print, copied from the
"U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings", December 1926.
USS Rhode Island is standing by in the background, as
a boat removes crewmen from the sinking Monitor.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 118KB; 740 x 505 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 79914
John Jones, former Ordinary Seaman, USN
Halftone image published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume
II, page 40, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907.
Ordinary Seaman Jones was awarded the Medal of Honor for his
conduct while rescuing crewmen from the sinking USS Monitor,
off Cape Hatteras during the night of 30-31 December 1862. He
was a member of the crew of USS Rhode Island at the time.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 125KB; 480 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 96723
USS Monitor (1862)
Photographic mosaic of the ship's remains, composed of individual
photographs taken from the research ship Alcoa Seaprobe
in April 1974, when Monitor's wreck was initially discovered.
Monitor lies upside down, in badly damaged condition,
off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In this image, her bow is
to the right, with her turret displaced and visible in the lower
left, with the hull resting atop it.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 79KB; 900 x 315 pixels |
 |
For links to more pictorial coverage of USS Monitor,
see:
USS Monitor (1862-1862) --
Selected Views.
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Historical Center home page.
Page made 19 June 2001