CONTACT:   Angela Calos            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                   6/4/98

The Civil War era gunboat U.S.S. Monitor is fighting yet another battle. But unlike the warship's famed clash with the Confederate ironclad Virginia, the enemies are time and the destructive effects of the Monitor's current berth -- the ocean floor, some 230 feet of water, about 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, N.C.

While the wreck of the Monitor is protected as a National Marine Sanctuary and as a National Historic Landmark, it continues to deteriorate and many experts feel the collapse of what remains of the Monitor's hull is inevitable. The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oversees the nation's marine sanctuaries and is currently working with the U. S. Navy and the National Undersea Research Center/University of North Carolina at Wilmington to survey, photograph, and map the wreck.

The ongoing detailed survey is actually the first step of a long-term, comprehensive preservation plan, called for in the 1996 National Marine Sanctuaries Preservation Act and delivered to Congress this week. In the act, Congress directed the Secretary of Commerce to produce a long-range, comprehensive plan for the management, stabilization, preservation, and recovery of artifacts and materials of the U.S.S. Monitor, and to the extent feasible utilize the resources of other federal and private entities with expertise and capabilities that are helpful.

NOAA produced a plan that incorporates comments from the public, archaeologists, engineers, conservators, ocean scientists, and other scientists and includes new information and data collected through recent deep water technological advances. The plan recommends physical shoring of the deteriorating hull combined with selective recovery of major components of the ship, such as the engine, turret, and propeller as well as numerous other small artifacts. This recommendation, based on a consensus among NOAA and outside reviewers, includes two principal phases: in situ preservation by shoring, followed by selective artifact recovery. The first phase will entail shoring up unstable portions of the Monitor's hull using sand bags, grout bags, jacks, or a combination of methods; the second phase will be the recovery of selected major components.

The preservation plan includes a framework for future research and preservation, identifies all viable options for stabilization and preservation of the Monitor, and comprehensively evaluates those options based upon the best available historical, archaeological and engineering information. The plan also provides a way to present and assess available data and to present detailed considerations and recommendations to be used by NOAA in determining the best course of action.

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 national marine sanctuaries can be found on the Internet at http://www.nos.noaa.gov/ocrm/nmsp/welcome.html