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Planned addition to The Mariners' Museum will display artifacts from famous Civil War ironclad. By Scott Boyd New center to showcase USS Monitor Date published: 12/4/2004
SCOTT BOYD HEN IT OPENS in 2007, the USS Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum will be the showcase for the artifacts recovered from the wreck of the famous Civil War Union ironclad. In addition, the center will tell the story of the Battle of Hampton Roads, which pitted the Monitor against the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack). This remarkable story will be placed in the larger context of the Civil War at sea and the evolution of American naval power. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new USS Monitor Center was held on Oct. 24, nearly 143 years to the day after construction began on the revolutionary ship. The center will be a 63,500-square-foot addition to The Mariners' Museum. Its estimated cost is $30 million, nearly half of which ($14 million) has already been raised through public and private sources. France built the first ironclad warship (the Gloire) in 1859, with Great Britain replying in 1860 with its first ironclad, HMS Warrior. The Union and Confederate governments began programs to build ironclads in 1861, with the Monitor and Virginia both being completed in early 1862. Although they weren't the first ironclads to be built, the Monitor and Virginia made history by being the first ironclads to face each other in battle when they fought at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862.
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