Contact:  Dr. John Broadwater      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          (804) 878-2973                   1/27/95

First National Marine Sanctuary Marks 20th Anniversary

Twenty years ago the shipwrecked Civil War ironclad USS Monitor became the nation's first marine sanctuary and was put under the protection of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, designated on Jan. 30, 1975, is now one of 12 special marine areas protected by NOAA. Concerned citizens call for the designation of national marine sanctuaries to protect natural, cultural or aesthetic marine resources.

The Monitor made history on March 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, Va., when it fought the CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack) in the first battle between ironclad warships. The Monitor sank just 10 months later in a violent storm off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The Monitor was designed by Swedish-American engineer and inventor John Ericsson in response to reports that the Confederates were building the ironclad Virginia. Completed in approximately 100 days, the Monitor's novel design included a revolving gun turret and placed all living spaces and the engineering space below the water line. It was the forerunner of the modern battleship, and its success in the engagement with the larger, more heavily armed Virginia marked a dramatic change in the way naval warfare was waged. Wooden warships gave way to fully steam-powered ships of iron.

Following its loss at sea, interest in locating the Monitor remained high through the middle of this century. Finally, in August 1973, the wreck of the Monitor was discovered lying in 230 feet of water 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It lies upside down with the port stern resting upon the displaced turret, which is also upside down.

The wreck now provides a habitat for a variety of marine life including amberjack, manta rays, barracuda, corals and sea anemones. Access to the Monitor has been limited to research; a permit must be obtained from NOAA before the research begins. Last year, however, NOAA issued a special-use permit that made it possible for three teams of divers to make non-research dives to the Monitor.

In 1987 the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Va., was designated the principal museum for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. The museum maintains a permanent Monitor exhibit. It also houses the Monitor Collection which includes historical material and research data resulting from NOAA's numerous investigations of the Monitor sanctuary.