Editing USS Monitor (section)

===Recovery===
[[File:UpsideDownTurret1.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo showing recovery of turret as it hoisted up and breaks the surface|Replica of ''Monitor''{{'}}s turret in the Mariners' Museum as it was recovered]]
Initial efforts in 1995 by Navy and NOAA divers to raise the warship's propeller were foiled by an abnormally stormy season off Cape Hatteras. Realizing that raising the whole wreck was impractical for financial reasons as well as the inability to bring up the wreck intact, NOAA developed a comprehensive plan to recover the most significant parts of the ship, namely her engine, propeller, guns, and turret. It estimated that the plan would cost over 20&nbsp;million dollars to implement over four years. The Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program contributed $14.5&nbsp;million. The Navy divers, mainly from its two [[Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit]]s, would perform the bulk of the work necessary in order to train in deep sea conditions and evaluate new equipment.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 44–48</ref>

Another effort to raise ''Monitor''{{'}}s propeller was successful on 8 June 1998, although the amount of effort required to work in the difficult conditions off Cape Hatteras was underestimated and the fewer than 30 divers used were nearly overwhelmed. The 1999 dive season was mostly research oriented as divers investigated the wreck in detail, planning how to recover the engine and determining if they could stabilize the hull so that it would not collapse onto the turret. In 2000, the divers [[Shoring|shored]] up the port side of the hull with bags of [[grout]], installed the engine recovery system, an external framework to which the engine would be attached, in preparation for the next season, and made over five times as many dives as they had the previous season.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 48–50</ref>

The 2001 dive season concentrated on raising the ship's steam engine and [[condenser (heat transfer)|condenser]]. Hull plates had to be removed to access the engine compartment and both the engine and the condenser had to be separated from the ship, the surrounding wreckage and each other. A [[Mini Rover ROV]] was used to provide visibility of the wreck and divers to the support staff above water. The engine was raised on 16 July and the condenser three days later by the [[crane barge]] ''Wotan''. [[Saturation diving]] was evaluated by the Navy that dive season on ''Monitor'' and proved to be very successful, allowing divers to maximize their time on the bottom.<ref>[[#Broadwater|Broadwater, 2012]], pp. 156–62</ref> The [[Surface supplied diving|surface-supplied divers]] evaluated the use of [[heliox]] due to the depth of the wreck. It also proved to be successful once the [[dive table]]s were adjusted.<ref name=IEEE2001>[[#Southerland|Southerland; Davidson; Journal, 2001]]</ref>

[[File:US Navy 020717-N-0331L-004 Monitor salvage and recovery.jpg|thumbnail|A Navy diver prepares "the spider"]]
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 | footer = '''LEFT:''' The turret, moments after it reached the surface, secure in the "spider" lifting frame. '''RIGHT:''' The turret is loaded onto the [[crane barge]] ''Wotan''.
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[[File:USS Monitor diver 2016.PNG|thumb|A [[Underwater diving|diver]] examines the wreck in 2016.]]
[[File:USS Monitor diver light.PNG|thumb|A diver shines a light at the wreck.]]
Much like the previous year, the 2002 dive season was dedicated to lifting the {{convert|120|LT|t|adj=on}} turret to the surface. Around 160 divers were assigned to remove the parts of the hull, including the armor belt, that lay on top of the turret using chisels, [[exothermic]] [[cutting torch]]es and {{convert|20000|psi|MPa kg/cm2|-1|abbr=on}} [[Hydrodemolition|hydroblasters]]. They removed as much of the debris from inside the turret as possible to reduce the weight to be lifted. This was usually [[Concretion|concreted]] coal as one of the ship's coal bunkers had ruptured and dumped most of its contents into the turret. The divers prepared the turret roof for the first stage of the lift by excavating underneath the turret and placed steel beams and angle irons to reinforce it for its move onto a lifting platform for the second stage. A large, eight-legged lifting frame, nicknamed the "spider", was carefully positioned over the turret to move it onto the platform and the entire affair would be lifted by the crane mounted on the ''Wotan''. The divers discovered one skeleton in the turret on 26 July before the lift and spent a week carefully chipping about half of it free of the concreted debris; the other half was inaccessible underneath the rear of one of the guns.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 63, 102, 120, 186, 210</ref>

With [[Tropical Storm Cristobal (2002)|Tropical Storm Cristobal]] bearing down on the recovery team, and time and money running out,<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 212–13, 230</ref> the team made the decision to raise the turret on 5 August 2002, after 41 days of work, and the gun turret broke the surface at 5:30&nbsp;pm to the cheers of everyone aboard ''Wotan'' and other recovery ships nearby.<ref>[[#Broadwater|Broadwater, 2012]], p. 183</ref> As archaeologists examined the contents of the turret after it had been landed aboard ''Wotan'', they discovered a second skeleton, but removing it did not begin until the turret arrived at the Mariners' Museum for conservation. The remains of these sailors were transferred to the [[Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command]] (JPAC) at [[Hickam Air Force Base]], Hawaii, in the hope that they could be identified.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 265–67, 277–79</ref>

Only 16 of the crew were not rescued by ''Rhode Island'' before ''Monitor'' sank and the [[forensic anthropologist]]s at JPAC were able to rule out the three missing black crewmen based on the shape of the [[femur]]s and skulls.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], pp. 279–84</ref> Among the most promising of the 16 candidates were crew members Jacob Nicklis, Robert Williams and William Bryan,<ref>{{cite news|date=28 December 2012|title=150th Anniversary of the USS Monitor: Meet Civil War Naval Heroes Robert Williams and William Bryan|last=Smolenyak |first=Megan |work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/uss-monitor-anniversary_b_2372051.html|access-date=16 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=26 December 2012|title=Crew of the USS Monitor: Could Sailor Jacob Nicklis Be One of the Mystery Skeletons?|last=Smolenyak |first=Megan |work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/uss-monitor-skeletons_b_2359637.html|access-date=16 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=13 May 2012|title=Crew Members of the USS Monitor: Solving the Mystery of the Skeletons in the Turret 150 Years Later|last=Smolenyak |first=Megan |work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/crew-members-of-the-uss-m_b_1513018.html|access-date=16 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=9 November 2011|title=USS Monitor: Could William Bryan Be One of the Skeletons in the Turret?|last=Smolenyak |first=Megan |work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/uss-monitor-could-william_b_1083790.html|access-date=16 January 2013}}</ref> but a decade passed without their identities being discovered. On 8 March 2013 their remains were buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]] with full military honors.<ref>{{cite web|title=Civil War sailors laid to rest 150 years later|date=8 March 2013|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/us/monitor-sailors-buried/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>

In 2003 NOAA divers and volunteers returned to the ''Monitor'' with the goal of obtaining overall video of the site to create a permanent record of the current conditions on the wreck after the turret recovery. Jeff Johnston of the [[Monitor National Marine Sanctuary]] (MNMS) also wanted a definitive image of the vessel's pilothouse. During the dives, ''Monitor''{{'}}s iron pilothouse was located near the bow of the vessel and documented for the first time by videographer Rick Allen, of [[Nautilus Productions]], in its inverted position.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://monitor.noaa.gov/expeditions/log072603.html |title=''Monitor'' Expedition 2003 |website=[[NOAA]] |date=26 July 2003}}</ref>

Conservation of the propeller was completed nearly three years after its recovery, and it is on display in the Monitor Center at the Mariners' Museum.<ref>[[#Broadwater|Broadwater, 2012]], p. 133</ref> As of 2013, conservation of the engine, its components, the turret and the guns continues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinersmuseum.org/uss-monitor-center/uss-monitor-center|title=USS Monitor Center|publisher=The Mariners' Museum|access-date=4 July 2013|archive-date=29 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729213713/http://www.marinersmuseum.org/uss-monitor-center/uss-monitor-center|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Dahlgren guns were removed from the turret in September 2004 and placed in their own conservation tanks.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], p. 271</ref> Among some of the artifacts recovered from the sunken vessel was a red signal lantern, possibly the one used to send a distress signal to ''Rhode Island'' and the last thing to be seen before ''Monitor'' sank in 1862 – it was the first object recovered from the site in 1977. A gold wedding band was also recovered from the hand of the skeletal remains of one of ''Monitor''{{'}}s crew members found in the turret.<ref>[[#artifacts|NOAA: ''Monitor's Artifacts'']]</ref>

[[Northrop Grumman]] Shipyard in Newport News constructed a full-scale non-seaworthy static replica of ''Monitor''. The replica was laid down in February 2005 and completed just two months later on the grounds of the Mariners' Museum.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Northrop Grumman Newport News |title=Northrop Grumman Employees Reconstruct History with USS Monitor Replica |url=http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/news/2005/050226_news.html |access-date=21 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070219052656/http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/news/2005/050226_news.html |archive-date = 19 February 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary conducts occasional dives on the wreck to monitor and record any changes in its condition and its environment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://monitor.noaa.gov/about/expeditions.html|title=About Your Sanctuary: Expeditions|publisher=Monitor National Marine Sanctuary|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref>