Dec. 31, 1862 - Loss of the USS Monitor

Dec. 31, 1862

Loss of the USS Monitor 

Off Cape Hatters, NC (aka The Graveyard of the Atlantic) 


https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=32134

The Loss of the USS Monitor

In the age old battle of man against the sea, the USS Monitor, en route to Beaufort, North Carolina under tow by the USS Rhode Island, foundered in a gale sixteen miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras at approximately 1:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve 1862.

"We had left behind us, one more treasure added to the priceless store which the Ocean so jealously hides. The Cumberland and Congress went first; the little boat that avenged their loss followed; in both noble souls have gone down. Their names are for history; and as long as we remain a people, so long will the work of the Monitor be remembered, and her story told to our children's children." - Greenville M. Weeks, Surgeon USS Monitor

(back side of marker):
Maritime Casualties of the American Civil War

Jan. 15, 1862 - The Graveyard of the Atlantic claims the lives of Colonel J.W. Allen and Surgeon Weller, officers of the 9th N.J. Volunteers, and the second mate of the Ann E. Thompson.

Dec. 31, 1862 – USS Monitor: N.K. Attwater, G. Frederickson, R.W. Hands, S.A. Lewis, W. Allen, W. Bryan, R. Cook, W.H. Eagan, J.R. Fenwick, R.H. Howard, T. Joyce, G. Littlefield, D. Moore, J. Nicklis, J. Stocking, R. Williams.
USS Rhode Island – H. Logan, C.H. Smith.

Jan. 17, 1864 – 1st N.C. Infantry: R.G. Casey, D.W. Farrow, R.B. Farrow, N.F. Jennette.

Over 600 perished with the losses of the Governor (Oct. 31, 1861), USS Bainbridge (Aug. 21, 1863) and General Lyon (Mar. 31, 1865).

“…The white line of the running surf goes booming down the beach. But I shall never see them, though the land lies close abroad, I’ve shaped the last long silent tack as takes one to the Lord.” - John Masefield


Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum - closed on Saturdays.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=11401

U.S.S. Monitor

Fought C.S.S. "Virginia" ("Merrimac") in first battle of ironclad ships. Lost Dec. 31, 1862, in gale 17 miles southeast. First marine sanctuary.


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