USS Monitor - From Angry Raft to National Treasure
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Today we explore the story of USS Monitor with the help of the excellent Mariners Museum, Newport News.
You can visit them for the annual Hampton Roads commemoration on the 9th March 2024 here:
www.marinersmu...
You can also register for a special talk on the battle here:
www.marinersmu...
My coverage of the Battle of Hampton Roads here:
• Battle of the Hampton ...
Naval History books, use code 'DRACH' for 25% off - www.usni.org/p...
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'Legionnaire' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Pinned post for Q&A :)
What is the ballast like on CSS Virginia? They both seem very top-heavy. The sloping on CSS Virginia probably helps a little bit with keeping weight more centerline, doesn't it?
Could the ABDA forces or at least the British and Australian forces have joined Force Z and assuming the reinforcements allowed Force Z to survive the air attacks that sank them could the Force Z ABDA force have done more damage to the Japanese around the Java sea area?
@@spilledepsomsalt4419 @spilledepsomsalt4419 She had at least 300 tons of ballast, according to one article -- they threw it overboard when they were trying to reduce her draft to get her up the James River and avoid Union forces after they'd re-taken Gosport Yard.
Are there any known instances (in the period covered by this channel) of a turbine-powered warship suffering a turbine-rotor burst (i.e., the rotor disk itself coming apart, as opposed to merely shedding blades) for whatever reason (such as metal fatigue, manufacturing defects, battle damage, improper reassembly of the turbine following overhaul, something coming loose within the boiler or engine machinery and being ingested into the turbine, etc.) and were any warships actually lost primarily or solely due to such an occurrence? This would certainly seem at first glance to be a fairly-catastrophic failure mode, given that such a high-energy event occurring deep within the ship would almost certainly wreck (and possibly cause secondary disintegrations in other rotors of) the involved turbine (and quite possibly others in the same or adjacent engine rooms, depending on the trajectories of liberated rotor debris), kill everyone in the involved engine room(s) (if not from shrapnel, then from the liberation of vast quantities of high-pressure superheated steam), and tear out the bottom of the ship below the failed turbine.
Being a naval engineer, do you think it would be better to have a layer of thick rubber then iron plate and then rubber again, or would it be better just to have multiple layers of iron and then rubber in between?
Monitor is the reason I'm here. My ancestor served aboard USS Minnesota at the Battle of Hampton Roads. He lost most of his hearing and was mustered out soon after but he got to watch the duel between the ironclads and lived to tell the tale so that's something at least.
I've always wondered about hearing loss from warfare in this era, surely everyone had horrible hearing loss.
Sad for his hearing, but that must have been quite the story to tell.
Did he write it down? These stories need to be passed on.
Imagine being a gunner in the turret of the Monitor. Deafness guaranteed.
That’s so awesome. I had family in the infantry and cavalry. I’m sure you are proud of that.
USN Secretary: "Mate, is it gonna have sails?"
Ericsson: "Shut up and pay me."
That is actually something he WOULD say, not being one for social fineries....
@@AndreasGlad-rq7vx I want to believe he provided a small model sailing ship in the captain's quarters and counted those sails as the sails. I have zero evidence for this, but it's something I choose to believe.
About the most on brand thing for Ericsson to say.
Fine, don't pay me. It's my boat and the confederates would love to take it off my hands.😂
Second ever USN torpedo boat was named "Ericsson" after him, so he definitely got his due respects eventually.
But wild that 50 years before Jutland, the concept of an all iron vessel, with armor playing, rotating turret, and screw propulsion already existed.
The museum guy is a good communicator and explains iron preservation that us history buffs can understand. He makes museums a good space. The public needs a good history narrative so we dont go off the rails in the future. Bravo ...good video. Thanks.
he was the standout star of the episode. really appreciated this.
I thought he was pretty gruff, but in a good way. Its tough for an expert to answer at the right level so that we as listeners can understand, I think he paused a few times for just that. In the end, big thanks to both Drachinfel and him!
Yeah, I know like, next to nothing about metallurgy but I feel like I actually followed his explanation pretty well. Which is awesome!
And he is so passionate about it as well! Like at 1:33:35 where he talks about how the indicator panel pulls you in and makes you feel for the people onboard monitor. When (let's face it) most people would just see a rectangular metal plate with two holes in it. Even if there is a panel with descriptions next to it.
I came to the comments to praise the same person's presentation, but found Bill had already done so. Thanks, Bill.
John Ericson learned a very important lesson the hard way: never skip the Meeting Assigning Blame.
And keep an updated Meeting List, because 'they' may schedule so that you are 'not available'.
Drach somehow missed giving you a ❤ for that observation, so I shall. THAT bit of wisdom should go right into the Lexicon with *Murphy’s Law* and *Parkinson’s Law* for future generations! 😂😂😂😂😂
The lesson is actually "Your patriotism will be rewarded with betrayal, for this country is run by psychopaths"
Many good people have had to learn that.
It would be helpful for all who are interested to read Cpt Beech's book, "The US Navy: 200 Years." This gives a complete account of the Monitor going back to 1841 which describes Ericson's first work for the US Navy. the building of the USS Princeton. As a result of the explosion on the USS Princeton which was projected unto Ericson; the Navy reduced loads to 50% and as a result the battle at Hampton Roads probably allowed the Virginia to avoid sinking which certainly would have caused the sinking of the Virginia.
we don't deserve Drachinifel, producing beyond TV quality documentaries, videos and igniting interest in Naval History, someone give this man a big budget TV show on Naval history
I fear such an effort, while certainly deserved, would make his work product much less frequently available to a greedy public
One of his best presentation features is crediting his viewers with *some* intelligence and a desire for greater depth of details.
If one watches even the best of the *old* History Channel, they change the graphics/topic every 15-30 seconds-“Short Attention Span Theater” for science and history!
(As this is a family-friendly medium, I won’t spell out what I think the History, Science, and Learning Channel have become. See the following: 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬)
Assuming the audience can think? How ridiculous. And where would he put the fake jeopardy?
TV quality is necessarily low because it has to reach the broadest possible audience, so it can’t be particularly appealing to anybody
Drach produces such great and frequent content, by being primarily a one-man-show. When he needs to tap into more expertise, he does so. No team of producers, like a network production would have, directs his next projects. I would not want him to change a thing, if giving up his independence was at stake.
Drach is so VIP now and so obviously a massive naval nerd, he’s given inside access ‘round the globe. Man has earned it.
In that vein, I do hope he gets to do a tour on the USS Pueblo one day. Considering it's current location, its probably the most difficult museum ship to get a tour of.
@@samnelson9038 is it underwater?
Wouldn't that be cool!@@samnelson9038
@@CryptidRenfri Worse, North Korea
Yep. He's getting up there with Gun Jesus and The Chieftain. Good to see such cooperation from museums, allowing their exhibits to be brought to a wider audience.
I find the idea of calling USS Monitor "An Angry Raft" outrageously funny, probably one of the Angriest Rafts ever!
They also called it "can on shindle".
I can’t recommend the Mariner’s Museum enough. If you can stop by, don’t miss it. I stopped there with the family on our way from the outer banks, lots to see, from the all the monitor stuff to a big collection of neat small craft, to a racing catamaran and a bunch of really excellent hand built models. The kids had a great time and even the wife was interested
44:05 "And the day went on, with the weather getting worse and worse."
It was about here that I began hearing The Ballad of Gilligan's Island.
I'm hearing, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
🎵 When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'
"Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya"
At 7 PM, a main hatchway caved in, he said
"Fellas, it's been good to know ya" 🎵
Lol….I you’re ever in Honolulu when you’re crossing the last bridge before Waikiki look to the right and you will see the marina where SS Minnow is departing way back then. The private vessels are more modern but the layout is the same.
I work in Newport news. I live in Hampton, the neighboring city to Newport News. I have never been to the Mariners museum. I can't believe it hasn't crossed my mind to go.
Dont let life pass you by without seeing this treasure. Only a dollar.
It’s an excellent museum. I stopped there with the family on our way from the outer banks, lots to see, from the all the monitor stuff to a big collection of neat small craft, to a racing catamaran and a bunch of really excellent hand built models. Well worth the stop
Do you spend a lot of time online? That could be why.😮
Nobody is a tourist at home. Wherever I go, the locals have never seen the local sites.
kind of the same. I went when i was a kid for a field trip and another time when my dad took me but i havent been since. Time to give it another visit!
I've seen that corrosion degradation of wrought iron myself whilst trying to restore a victorian hand cranked grinding wheel set. The shaft of the grinding "machine" was badly corroded and effectively junk so as an experiment I decided to see if I could forge weld it back into solid. The short answer was no. The corrosion was all the way through the delamination and blocked forge welding, so I can well imagine the nightmare the conservation of Monitor's remains must be, and I was only trying to deal with fresh water corrosion not salt water. Huge respect to the conservators.
This comment deserves another hundred or so upvotes. No arse-licking, just good personal insight. And informative, to the point where I can put 'TIL'.
John Ericsson remained active until his death in New York City on March 8, 1889. Touted as one of the greatest inventors and most remarkable mechanical geniuses of the 19th century, Ericsson died at 85 years of age
That's suspiciously close to the date Jack the Ripper disappeared... DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNN....
The American Swedish Colonial Museum in South Philadelphia has a room dedicated to Ericsson. The iconography recognizes the Monitor (and him as an important Swedish immigrant), but the memorial is oddly thin about his engineering. The room itself is incongruous with the subject and the architecture of the building.
I was in grade school when Monitor was found, and you can imagine the buzz it set off. Suddenly every school on the east coast was doing special projects around Monitor and its famous battles. Dioramas were being made, school reports written, you name it.
The Monitor IS a national treasure, albeit a bit rusty.
Look we can't *all* be constitution.
Rusty treasure
It's not rusty, it's blushing.....
@@Hoopaball I believe they were given full military services.
@@Hoopaballwhat is your problem?
Most impressive, Your scripts are always so well presented, but I did not know that you could present off Script so flawless. Well done Sir.
He can't; he is just casually telling the story from the top of his head as usual. 🙂
He's definitely getting better and more relaxed with it. Practice makes perfect!
>get home after seeing notification about USS monitor guide video
>sweet i'll watch that
>it's 2 HOURS
You spoil me drach
put it on 2 x speed, or hope it's released in a UA-cam SHorts version LOL. I'm a civil war enthusiast and this a great docu. Great mix of facts and humor and anecdotes, impressive
40:25
On a side note, the CSS _Teaser_ also had equipment for the Confederate observation balloons, making her one of the first “aircraft carriers” in history.
I love how passionate that guy is about preserving metals that have been submerged in seawater for a lengthy period. It's oddly satisfying to know that someone is on top of this.
Its amazing to see the cheese box on a raft as she was sometimes called
thanks for posting
Cheese box😂
That’s just a funny word . Or two words rather.
Cheese box, adding that to my everyday nomenclature.
Yup, it was a gouda idea.
A box of very angry cheese
I visited the Mariner's Museum about 20 years ago, when they had just started to restore the recovered parts of Monitor. Really exciting to see all that they've accomplished since then. Thanks for the video!
Drac with those hot puns and not calling them out... 54min even, talking about raising the wreck with the Glomar Explorer, "an idea was floated..."
Hey, Drach! It was nice meeting you when you were there. The last time I’d been down there was when they opened the exhibit all the way back in 2007.
Back then, I was a part of the reenacting unit that had Henry Kidd in it; an artist who made the painting of the interior of the CSS _Virginia_ that most everyone uses.
This one is much-appreciated, Drach. The Monitor's sunken hulk was long-sought and was an uplifting discovery for those interested in 19th century American history.
For a long time it was believed the wreck was too fragile to recover, so it was electric news to hear they were going to raise the Monitor or at least parts of her. Even though they could not get it all intact, it is hoped they still recovered whatever fragments were there after the recovery of the turret.
I have not been to the Mariners Museum in 25 years. It has been in mind, but now I'll be going soon.
Those ship models are indeed fantastic, some lovely figureheads are also in memory, along with World War 2 Japanese mini-subs.
I am glad you liked it, Drach.
This is excellent, Drach! Absolutely excellent!
One of my iconic possessions is a stainless-steel "USN" fork from the 1950s that my parents liberated from the mess-hall to equip their modest off-base apartment in 1963. They had, at one point, a full set of official USN plates, cups, forks, knives, soup, tea spoons and tea cups and saucers.
It's special to me because it's an item that they were using when I was born.
That fork will be a family heirloom forever......................
This is the best maritime historical presentation I have ever seen. Excellent! Thanks.
USS Monitor a spicy raft 😂
Very well seasoned at this point
Best quote 😂
What ho big baws ,are you wearing body armour?
@@michaelbeale559 Nah. Too much salt.
Or as Drach himself once put it, a Battle-Cheese
Mariners' Museum is not to be missed! I toured it with my Skipper from my boat, along with his (and my) wife.
It's a hidden gem, and deserves far more traffic than it gets.
I'm sorry to be a pedant but are you meaning to say "along with our wives" as in you both brought your own wife or is this a case of Polyamory where you and your skipper shared a single wife?
Awesome Video!!!! As a 30 year American Civil War re- enactor I love that this ship is getting recognition.
Amidst all the focus on battles we often forget the ACW, especially for the USN, was not just a technical revolution it was a revolution in acquisition practices, contracting, contract law, as well as in contruction and ship building. Unfortunately the lessons learned were largely forgotten when Congress scraped not just the fleet but the Organizations and corporate knowledge in the Secretariat after the war.
*Dude* , you're so lucky. The "fork" at the end was a special items. You've got some *GREAT* friends now and I really admire at your fantastic network. I can guarantee you that you'll be invited to speak at various US Naval functions . You may even be asked to speak at the holy-of-holies: Annapolis. Well done, Drak, Good show!
Gentleman traveled across the ocean to give Americans a lesson on American history. Bravo sir. An hour and forty-six of my life well spent!
The Mariners' Museum has made considerable improvements in their USS Monitor exhibit over the past two years. That exhibit, along with the rest of the Museum needs to be on one's "must see" list.
As an American, you can see how motivated we are to find out what happened to CSS Hunley and USS Monitor. The tech and necessity to build these vessels defines what we were and are.
What we were* old America is dead. Our country was stolen from us.
@@jakemocci3953 How was the country stolen from you?
@@trapdoorspringfieldmodel1888 My hometown doesn’t speak English or fly the American in flag anymore. Our politicians gave it away to foreigners.
@@jakemocci3953 If that had actually happened regarding the American flag it would have been all over the news already, and yet it isn't.
As to speaking English the United States has no official language, so even though English is the dominant language people have the freedom to speak whatever language they want to in this country thanks to something called the First Amendment.
@@trapdoorspringfieldmodel1888 You think these hordes of foreigners have any connection to old America? They see us as a shopping mall, not a nation. Seems you do, too. No other country in the world is actively replacing their citizens.
This is a magnificent museum, and really the Mecca for ironclad fans/enthusiasts.
Love being up late in Australia. ‘Early access’ to Drach’s Rum Ration!
I live 30 minutes from the Mariners Museum. Been there many times from when I was around 16 to 50 years old. This is awesome.
A feature length production from the Drach-meister... Yes please.. :)
Yooooo more ironclad content plzzzz, it's my favourite naval era!
I had no idea there were actual versions of these you could go inside! I love the slopes and casemates on the Virginia! Such a menacing looking ship!
I gotta say, the experience of actually WATCHING one of your videos, with you standing in a boat, full body shot, is like seeing Santa Claus on his cigarette break at the mall. Like yeah I knew that wasn't the real Santa Claus, but the terrifying reality is hilariously incongruous. What do you MEAN this guy has a physical manifestation? What??
In the mid 60's I discovered and read C.S. Forester's Hornblower books which got me interested in sailing warships. I got a model of USS Constitution which gave me some insights into handling the sails when I had to thread all the rigging. Another model was the USS Kearsarge (Mohican class sloop-of-war) where I discovered an alternative to broadside mounted cannon. Avalon Hill's Battle of Jutland game (along with Fletcher Pratt's naval game) got me interested in battleships and reprints of Jane's Fighting Ships from 1906/07, 1914, and 1919. I remember making a computer program to generate the game data for ships in Pratt's game based on info from my Jane's books, one punched card per ship. I had about an 8th inch of cards for the program and 3 inches of cards for ship data. My time to run a program was limited and I remember feeding the cards in. The program would zip through the reader, then a data card, a pause, another data card, another pause, etc. The program would read maybe 10 data cards before I ran out of time. I'd look at the dot matrix printout, remove the cards that had been processed, and run the deck again. In its way, it was a 'fun' project. I consider myself fortunate that I have lived long enough to discover and appreciate your informative videos which have rekindled a long dormant interest in warships. Thank you.
Great video!
You abolish time and distance-
to provide a guided tour of OUR HISTORY!
Thank YOU.
Fabulous Fabulous Show, Seeing the Artifacts at the End Brought the History of the Ship and the Battle Home!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you Drach for this video. I found it most interesting when you described how the turret was mounted and traversed. I had always imagined a bearing mechanism turret ring, but was surprised to learn that the turret needed to be lifted by the wedge system to rotate. Thanks for the enlightening explanation.
Well done. Starting with the Virginia was an inspired foundation for a proper view of Monitor. To me, your touch as historian is big league.
This idea of equipping Monitor with sails, to me, says a lot about the generally conservative nature of naval ship designers. We see the same thing in the bizarre 1920s obsession with putting cruiser guns on aircraft carriers. "Everything that came before had this therefore we need to keep doing it."
Great video, Drach, thanks!
It seems bizarre, when you look at the final product, but that was the result of going for the end goal of no sails. She'd have been a little different in form if sails had been accepted by the designer. Two words: 'Rolf Krake'.
This was a delightful return for me, I lived a block away as a child from the Mariner’s Museum. It’s a special place.
My Living History Group from USS Constellation in Baltimore Attended a Weekend Display Event at The Museum and Were Fascinated by What We Saw!!!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Appreciate that you let the expert talk and explain what they are doing and asking good questions to expand on what he is saying. Well done.
They made the iron plates for the monitor in Nashua, New Hampshire. There is a memorial plaque mounted where the building used to be. In 1978 in eighth grade, we did a field trip there.
I was just about to search on the source of the iron, but you beat me to it. Thanks.
I find something oddly charming about people having specifically unscrewed and stolen all of Monitor's doorknobs. No idea why, I just love it.
Souvenir taking was a big thing in times past. Which is one reason why gift shops became such a big thing. It gave the public something to take home other than pieces of what they came to see.
Plymouth Rock used to be something quite impressive. Now it's just a rather small looking landscaping stone because so many people took pieces home.
Wonder how far those doorknobs have been scattered in the last 162 years? Are some being used in houses and do the people in those houses know what they are?
i mean whats a little theft between admirers and admiree?
What a great "5 min guide" (more or less) on such a fascinating piece of history!
This guy Drachinfel has turned my casual and passing interest in naval warfare and turned it into something I'm truly interested in. Drachinfel did this. Not video games nor TV nor well-funded interests. A guy on UA-cam who cares about this stuff did it. Thanks to him.
Awesome seeing you covering the Battle Drac! Too bad I missed the opportunity to shake your hand while you were here, I grew up in Hampton Roads, the story & the Mariner’s museum has absolutely influenced my life long passion for Naval history, I remember my Mom even took me to the opening event when they opened the Monitor Center, definitely recommend a visit if anyone hasn’t been or have the chance to see the amazing collection they have
The Mariners Museum is a treasure.
I will second Mr. Drach's assessment of the museum, having been there a few years ago. The Monitor stuff is great, but overall, it's a great maritime museum.
Awesome. That would be a fascinating road trip, to visit this museum.
Thank you. This video was very well done. You and the museum bring this history to life. I didn't know anything about this museum before. I want to visit it next time I'm visiting my relatives in the area.
My , cousin, and I visited the mariners museum just after the monitors turret was raised. We saw it as they were putting it into its tank. The staff told us this would be the last time it would be out of the water for many years.
Wow Draq,
Your presentation and detailed support from the experts were absolutely thorough and fascinating.
@14:00 There was the technology then to build the first battlefield tank as well; using the same ship building principals, but on an order of magnitude smaller. A 6-Team 6-wheeled horse drawn or steam engine propelled turreted wooden framework completely covered with sloped @2” armor plates on the front and turret, and 1/4” plates on the sides and rear. There would need to be wheels in front of the horses to support the armored housing and lash brackets to attach exterior helper teams when needed. It would be @10’H x 10’W x 50’L and provide a cover for advancing infantry.
Btw, Draq, thank you for pronouncing Oregon (Oreegun) correctly, most in the Eastern US pronounce it as Ory-gone.
It's been close to twenty years since I've visited the Mariners Musem. I see from the video they have quite a few new and improved displays there. I would love to go back there soon.
that guy doing good work to preserve valuable history, and gets to enjoy fly overs by F-22's. What a way to spend your day!
You should come to my hometown next and check out the CSS H.L. Hunley! They have an exhibit of a recreation and the actual vessel recovered from the sea floor as well! It is quite interesting and I am proud of my town’s contribution to maritime history, regardless of the political connotations.
I loved the part where you were talking about the construction/rebuild of CSS Virginia with CSS Virginia being built in the background (along with hammer noises).
Ì doubt it's a museum I'll ever visit because it's a continent away, but damn that looks good. I really like the turret replica display, with the see through walls, giving you a good how it actually is withing the ship while giving you the ability to see the entire mechanism.
500k subs... 10k likes...
mate... this video went by in one sitting like it was nothing... was absolutely fantastic ... deserves so many more likes
This really clads my iron
Nice to see you in my old neighborhood I was from born in Portsmouth where css Virginia (worked I the same shipyard for 40 years) was built and sailed where this battle took place
Hey! Welcome to my neck of the woods. I hope you enjoyed the museum and thanks for spreading knowledge
The Monitor was an amazing technological leap forward. But the Virginia was very capable considering the limited resources the Confederacy had to work with.
Shared. This video, especially its latter part, is first rate educational material. Gladly shared, Drach. Thanks for posting, and for choosing the right lecturer for the job.
What a superb video, of a fascinating ship. Great videography, script and interviews. Top work, thank you Drach!
The Oregon gun was actually named the “Orator” by Ericcson. You can still see it near the gates of the Naval Academy
John Ericsson is mainly a hero in the US. In Sweden, the honor goes to his brother, Nils Ericsson, who was the head engineer building the initial Swedish railroad network.
A fun fact about Swedish early trains. Timetables were in local time. And this meant local astronomical time at each individual train station. Sweden isn't very wide in the East-West direction, so there were only small differences - but imagine the hurdle of keeping track of all of this! I imagine this was a much bigger issue in the USA or Russia, but I don't know anything about how this was solved.
Ever wonder why your time is a certain offset from UTC? British railroads decided "to hell with it, noon in Greenwich is noon everywhere in the UK", and not long afterward the North American railways invented time zones.
Russia eventually adopted local time zones with the rest of the world, but they solved the issue for trains in the simplest way possible -- until 2018 they just used Moscow time for all train timetables, station clocks, and tickets, and left it to the passengers to figure it out from there.
@@DeliveryMcGeeGreenwich Mean Time was for navigation and solving a longitudinal fix by knowing your offset from local noon and Greenwhich noon you can determine your longitude, i.e. has nothing to do with railroads.
@@at1cvb417 I admit this was very much a tangent.
North American railroads didn't actually invent time zones. Time zones were invented for the railroads, and railroads helped spread the idea, but that particular time zone system wasn't invented by a rail company, nor did any of the railroads adopt it, nor was it the first time someone came up with the idea of time zones.
The history of time zone is complicated. Lots of independent inventions, scattered adoption, and so on.
@@SnakebitSTI Kind of invented by a railroad. The concept was proposed by Sir Stanford Fleming, a surveyor and civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Standard time zones in North America were proposed and adopted during a meeting of railroad managers in Chicago on October 11, 1883. I've walked past a plaque commemorating it numerous times, and there's a restaurant/bar just across the street that goes by the name Central Standard.
I live near this museum. Glad to see you covered it, much appreciated. It's a great museum for adults and kids. Wish I had a chance to catch you there! Cheers Drach!
In the end you've stuck a fork in it. Far from done, we need the head.
Very excellent Mariners Museum and Drachinifel.
". . .a little bit sunk." 😂😂
Gods I love English understatement.
Although not shown, the museum has on display, a miniature and working model of the oscillating steam engine. Fascinating to watch in operation.
A very angry, very important raft! A lot of fascinating information, I was surprised about the iron hull and how it improved the survivability of the ship but it makes complete sense. Really loved your talk with the curator, he's so passionate and explains so well. Unfortunately not somewhere I'd be able to visit but thank you for the tour!
Thanks Drachinfel for the great video. I have been to the Mariner's museum may times as a child, before the Monitor salvage, and once again a couple years ago to see the Monitor exhibits . it is a fascinating place I could spend all day there.
I live near the museum and have been on deck of the replica many times! If you ever want some info for the weird relationship between the CS and US army and navies they are the place to go to! Also being Active duty in Norfolk has had me tickled in the living historian sense being a member of the real US navy as well as a reactor with the 12th VA Infantry (which historically supplied support with the 16th VA Infantry to the CSS Virginia that fought at the BOHR)
A WONDERFUL tour and fantastic information, thank you and the museum staff for making it possible.
I visited the Maritime Museum in 2003 - I think shortly after the Monitor turret had been placed in a preservation tank. At that time the tanks were outdoors. The new preservation building with tanks inside is fantastic. Thanks for the great update video!
Your battle of Hampton roads video is the first video I watched from your channel.
Placing the MONITOR or her bits on display , that is amazing. These are fine preservationists working very hard.
1:09:32 That dude looks kind of uncomfortable at first, but once you get him talking about his area of expertise, he forgets about the camera and just waxes enthusiastic about the restoration process. I've met so many scientists and engineers who are just like that. Hopeless at cocktail parties, but brilliant for the things that really matter. Awesome!
Wow. Just an incredible amount of new information that it had never occurred to me to research on my own. I was aware of the battle of Hampton Roads, some of the history behind the two vessels (mainly the Merrimac/Virginia), and the loss/subsequent discovery of the Monitor. But the background to the Monitor's design and construction and subsequent recover and preservation: All new. Drach's videos are usually an hour or more in length, which I find imposing, given the number of other things I can watch that are much shorter. However, this two-hour video was worth every minute. Kudos to Drach for the attacking this subject with his usual comprehensive approach and detail!
Good video. Two things; first during WWII, some histories, have it, that the Monitor was depth charged in WWII as it was mistaken for a German U-boat. Secondly, it is not mentioned that the remains of two as yet unidentified enlisted men were recovered from the turret when it was raised. Apparently their bodies were trapped by the guns when the ship sunk. The men were subsequently given burial with full Naval Honors in Arlington
That wouldn't surprise me. Submarines would sometimes sit on the bottom and go silent, and hope to be overlooked, but you can't hide from a Magnetic Anomaly Detector, and _Monitor_ would provide one heck on an anomaly.
I was IN this city and didn't know this museum was there. I need to go back soon!
Nice, still have goosebumbs. Best regards from Denmark
Drach, thank you for this! I really enjoyed your conversation with the curator.
Thanks. I haven't been down to the Museum since 1994, and firstly back in 77.
@drach, I was in this museum in October 2013 and I had a great time there. As you know, the museum curators were restoring the USS Monitor after so many decades under water. At that time, the turrets were inside a giant vat with a solution to dissolve or remove the marine life. Although it was a significant piece of US Navy history, it looked so different and even underwhelming at times. I would like to go back now and see the progress made in person.
Outstanding job sir. The underlying work of the museum staff and your own interest in history provides a wonderful product.
Thank you Drachinifel, this is by far the best episode you have produced, so far. Your love for the engineering aspect outshines every other documentary I've studied. BRAVO!
@9:30 the shop work benches and furniture resembles what I saw as a boy in the late1950's within a waterwheel powered machine shop in Austin Minnesota run by two New Englanders in the 80''s. Wow!
Absolutely fascinating; the turret mantlet or shield is an entirely new piece of information to me!
It also, for me, undermines yet further the notion of the turret being 'jacked up' to rotate. (Raising the central spindle and gear into firm contact being one thing, firmly enough to reduce the pressure and friction between turret circumference and bearing ring, lifting a 150-ton-plus turret and guns - with the additional forward weight now of the mantlet for extra balancing fun being highly improbable).
They key for me in deciding, largely for myself, that the turret was not lifted right off the bearing ring was that Greene reported how hard locating 'Virginia' was and how hard controlling the turret turning gear was - so the gun were fired on the fly. The shock of all this to a nine-inch thick spindle and associated gears doesn't need much consideration to come to the logical conclusion that the external edge of the turret would have been far more functional simply being uniformly stabilised upon the circular brass bearing ring itself... especially since bearing slides were a standard technology of the day.
(And exactly how easily a couple of men could have turned that nut on the threaded end of the actually very steeply-inclined wedge, against the full turret weight, without stripping the thread? It's a miracle of engineering to consider.)
It's still recently a very contentious idea, I can't *get* to the Mariners Museum and a very helpful member of staff replied back to me about two or three years ago that *yes* the turret was *definitely* lifted up off the bearing ring to turn. So this idea is certainly not accepted by many, including experts.
Yet the 5,000 psi loading on the spindle's bearing and turret support truss (if the turret was borne aloft upon it) is another clue. (As are both the concerns of British naval architects about deformation of the ring *and* the curious attachment of the later 'Passaic' and 'Canonicus' protective ring to the actual turret, clear of the deck by an inch or so - opening up yet another topic of debate about the nature of damage to and KOs of Ericsson turrets in battle.)
Thank you Drach for this deep dive. Monitor is a uniquely fascinating ship and artifact. It's a miracle that we have what we do of her; kudos to the team behind the recovery effort and preservation work.
Great comment!
@@hancehanson4000 Thank you! It's a Marmite comment, though - it will go down poorly with others.
Fascinating presentation!!
I like the side profile mock up showing the thickness of the hull.My grandfather was an ironworker who normally worked on constructing buildings but was called to the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII in building ships.My Mom mentioned that he was there when a massive explosion and fire occurred.He wasn’t killed or injured thankfully.