Tie-In

We used a permanent anchor that was positioned off in the sand to tie into. This kept us from damaging the wreck but allowed us to maintain a continuous line to the wreck site.

Video

Another team of divers gets ready to shoot some video of the Monitor.

Turret/Port-Side Armor Belt

The portside armor belt rests on top of the turret. The wreck is upside down and this view is of the bottom of the turret.

Turret

The entire turret is filled in with silt. A few support beams are visible.

Boot

No, this isn't the boot of one of the Monitor crew. This boot was left behind by one of the Navy divers earlier in the season.

Sacrificial Anode

Sacrificial anodes were placed at several locations around the wreck to slow the corrosion rate of the steel. In this location, the Clump - a counter weight used to help lower and raise the Navy stage- struck the side of the turret exposing the steel.

Zinc

This is the zinc anode. It is electrically connected to the steel in the turret. The zinc corrodes instead of the steel protecting the wreck.

Clamp

This "C" clamp holds the zinc in place and connects the wires to the steel.

Portside Armor Belt

This is a view along the portside armor belt.

Engine Room

From the portside armor belt, you can see over to the engineering space of the wreck. The engine room is just inside this space.

Ladder

A diver swims over a ladder left behind by the US Navy divers. The Navy guys don't exactly practice neutral buoyancy. They used weighted boots and walk along the bottom. This ladder was used so they could reach the top (actually bottom) of the wreck.

Marker

The goal of this dive was to locate as many markers as we could around the wreck. These PVC markers were placed at various vocations around the wreck to help study how the wreck was deteriorating. We would eventually take measurements between the markers to determine movement of these locations over time.

Engineering Compartment

This is the port side of the Engineering Compartment. This compartment housed the boilers and the engine room.

Sea Bass vs. Toadfish

This sea bass got a little too close to the camouflaged toad fish and got a little nip. The sea bass circles around for the counter-attack. The toadfish get their name from the croaking sound they make. They showed no fear of divers and managed to bite a few as they reached into areas inside the wreck.

Marker

My dive buddy for this dive locates another marker and begins to remove the growth from it.

No Gloves

He quickly realized that he left his gloves back on the boat! I set the camera down to help out.

Marker 22

We get enough of the growth cleared away to read the marker. It was actually pretty hard to make out what it said under water. The camera sees a little more clearly and the number is clearly visible.

Coral

Some hard coral has made the wreck of the Monitor its home.

Marker

Here is another marker clamped to the wreck. They are pretty hard to find as they get grown over pretty quickly.

Marker 23

With a little work we can read this marker as well.

Recording

My dive buddy records the location and depth of the marker on his slate.