CONTACT:  Angela Calos             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                   6/8/98

Crews working to survey and document the condition of the sunken wreck of the U.S.S. Monitor recovered the Civil War-era ironclad warship's propeller late Friday evening, a major step in the study and preservation of the ship, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. Other smaller artifacts, the propeller well cover and a deck plate, were recovered on Sunday.

A team of divers and other specialists from NOAA, the U.S. Navy, and the National Undersea Research Center/University of North Carolina at Wilmington were in the process of conducting a detailed survey of the Monitor when they realized that conditions were right to attempt the recovery of the unique, historic artifact.

"The recovery of the propeller and a section of the shaft is a momentous occasion, not only for the research dive teams, but also for historians, archaeologists, and mariners who have followed the expeditions that have chronicled the Monitor for so many years," said John D. Broadwater, manager of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. "We are also very excited about retrieving the propeller well cover, measuring 10 feet, and a deck plate."

Divers cut through nine inches of the solid-iron shaft to free the propeller. The entire artifact, propeller and shaft, is about 11 feet long and weighs about three tons. The propeller, or screw, is about nine feet in diameter. It was designed by Monitor's designer, Swedish-American engineer John Ericsson. The propeller is one of the few surviving examples of what experts say was Ericsson's most important contribution to the development of naval power -- improvement in screw propulsion. Monitor, whose wreckage lies under 230 feet of water some 16 miles off the coast of North Carolina, is protected by NOAA as a national marine sanctuary. The Navy, the University of North Carolina, and others have worked with NOAA for many years to survey and study the historic ship, and retrieve smaller artifacts.

Earlier studies of the wreck show that it is deteriorating and many experts feel the collapse of what remains of the Monitor's hull is inevitable. The ongoing survey work is the first step of a long term preservation plan which calls for eventual shoring and support of some parts of the submerged hull, and -- when possible -- recovery of items such as the propeller and turret. Plans call for the propeller and other artifacts to be moved to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va., where other smaller Monitor artifacts, and the ship's unique four-fluke anchor recovered in 1983, are on display.

U.S.S. Monitor was launched Jan. 30, 1862, and was the first ironclad, turreted warship. Her famous March 9, 1862, battle with the Confederate warship Virginia (former U.S.S. Merrimac) was the first battle of ironclad ships and ended in a virtual draw after the combatants exchanged cannon fire for hours, sometimes at point-blank range. Monitor sank in a storm on Dec. 31, 1862. Monitor's wreck was discovered in 1973 and was designated as the first national marine sanctuary in 1975. More information about the Monitor and other 11 national marine sanctuaries can be found on the Internet at http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/nmsp/welcome.html