Monitor National Marine Sanctuary - Rediscovery

Rediscovery

In 1973, the wreck of the ironclad Monitor was located on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean by an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Duke University’s Marine Laboratory. The discovery was preceded by extensive historical research and the selection of probable areas for the Monitor’s sinking. The search team located what they believed to be the wreck of the Monitor using side-scan sonar and remotely operated cameras. In 1974, the U.S. Navy and the National Geographic Society launched a second expedition that confirmed the identity of the Monitor and produced detailed photographic documentation of the wreck site. One year later, in 1975, the site was designated as the nation’s first marine sanctuary.