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Photo # NH 58758:  Removing crewmen from the sinking USS Monitor, 31 Dec. 1862

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Monitor (1862-1862) --
Loss of the Ship, 31 December 1862

After a hot summer of routine duty in the Hampton Roads area, Monitor badly needed an overhaul. This work, done at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., fitted the ship with a telescopic smokestack, improved ventilation, davits for handling her boats and a variety of other changes to enhance her fighting power and habitability. She returned to the combat zone in November 1862, remaining in vicinity of Newport News for the rest of that month and nearly through the next.

In December, Monitor was ordered south to join the blockading forces off the Carolinas. After preparing for sea, on 29 December she left Hampton Roads in tow of USS Rhode Island, bound for Beaufort, N.C. The weather, expected to be good for the entire voyage, stayed that way into the 30th, as the two ships moved slowly along, several miles off the North Carolina coast. However, wind and seas picked up during the afternoon and turned to a gale by evening. The Monitor labored heavily as she neared Cape Hatteras, famous for its nasty sea conditions. Water began to enter the ship faster than the pumps could expel it and conditions on board deteriorated dangerously.

Shortly before midnight, it was clear that Monitor was in grave danger. Her steam pressure was fast failing as rising water drowned the boiler fires. The tow line was cut, the anchor dropped, and distress signals were sent to the Rhode Island. Boats managed to remove most of the ironclad's crewmen under extremely difficult conditions, but several men were swept away. Finally, at about 1:30 in the morning of 31 December 1862, the historic Monitor sank, to be lost to human sight for nearly 112 years. Sixteen of her crew of sixty-two were lost with her.

This page features views related to the loss of USS Monitor, 31 December 1862.

For links to more pictorial coverage of USS Monitor, see:

  • USS Monitor (1862-1862) -- Selected Views.

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 58758

    "The Wreck of the Iron-clad 'Monitor.'"


    Line engraving published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting USS Monitor sinking in a storm off Cape Hatteras on the night of 30-31 December 1862. A boat is taking off crewmen, and USS Rhode Island is in the background.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 169KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51957

    "Loss of the 'Monitor' in a Storm off Cape Hatteras, December 30th, 1862. -- Gallant efforts to rescue the Crew by the 'Rhode Island'."


    Line engraving published in "The Soldier in Our Civil War", Volume I, page 248. It shows USS Monitor sinking at left, with a boat picking up crewmen, as USS Rhode Island stands by in the right background, firing rockets.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 163KB; 665 x 675 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 79913

    "The Monitor's Tragic End"


    Artwork published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 39, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907.
    It depicts USS Monitor sinking off Cape Hatteras during the night of 30-31 December 1862, as a boat approaches to rescue some of her crewmen. USS Rhode Island is in the left distance, firing a rocket.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 163KB; 740 x 550 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 1279

    Loss of USS Monitor, 30-31 December 1862


    Halftone reproduction of a Civil War era print, copied from the "U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings", December 1926.
    USS Rhode Island is standing by in the background, as a boat removes crewmen from the sinking Monitor.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 118KB; 740 x 505 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 79914

    John Jones, former Ordinary Seaman, USN


    Halftone image published in "Deeds of Valor", Volume II, page 40, by the Perrien-Keydel Company, Detroit, 1907.
    Ordinary Seaman Jones was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct while rescuing crewmen from the sinking USS Monitor, off Cape Hatteras during the night of 30-31 December 1862. He was a member of the crew of USS Rhode Island at the time.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 125KB; 480 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 96723

    USS Monitor (1862)


    Photographic mosaic of the ship's remains, composed of individual photographs taken from the research ship Alcoa Seaprobe in April 1974, when Monitor's wreck was initially discovered.
    Monitor lies upside down, in badly damaged condition, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In this image, her bow is to the right, with her turret displaced and visible in the lower left, with the hull resting atop it.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 79KB; 900 x 315 pixels

     

    For links to more pictorial coverage of USS Monitor, see:

  • USS Monitor (1862-1862) -- Selected Views.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 19 June 2001