NOAA Monitors Research and Recovery Expedition

After five years of successful large artefact recovery missions, the US Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has now embarked upon a four-week expedition at the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to examine the condition of the wreck of the famed Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. The expedition is a co-operative effort involving the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program, the National Undersea Research Center (NURC) at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNC-W), the Maritime Studies Program at East Carolina University (ECU) and The Mariners' Museum.
In addition to documenting the site, divers will survey the stern area of the wreck site, the boilers and the surviving lower hull structure and the galley area and will recover any exposed artefacts. Recovered artefacts will be delivered to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va., for conservation and possible exhibition.
NOAA will conduct all dives using sanctuary staff, NURC and ECU personnel and more than a dozen volunteers from across the country.