Chromolithograph of the Battle of Hampton Roads
Produced by Louis Prang & Co., Boston, 1886
Public Domain
Battle of the Ironclads
March 9, 1862USS Monitor and CSS Virginia meet at Hampton Roads, VA. This is the first fight between the ironclads.
Neither ship wins the battle, but both prove the power of iron over wood.Read more
in the Batten Conservation Complex at the USS Monitor Center.
Featured Artifact
Gun CarriagesThe USS Monitor’s turret was armed with two XI-inch Dahlgren guns resting on specially designed gun carriages. To date, one carriage has been completely dissembled and the individual pieces are undergoing their own conservation treatments. The second carriage has only been partially disassembled and is visible to visitors in its treatment tank from our special viewing platform.Read more
The Mariners’ Museum was named the official repository for the Monitor Collection by NOAA in 1987. The collection consists of over 200 tons of priceless artifacts recovered from the iconic Civil War ironclad located within the boundaries of NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.
Ironclad Revolution Exhibition
At the heart of the USS Monitor Center is the award-winning exhibition—Ironclad Revolution—a melding of artifacts,
original documents, paintings, personal accounts, interactives and environments that will pique all five senses.
The strategies, people, technology, and science behind the historic circumstances surrounding this story are displayed
in a way the public has never before seen.Read more
