Monitor Faces Revealed
Haunting. Eerie. Poignant. These are just three of the words whispered to describe what those assembled were witnessing in the Arleigh Burke Auditorium at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., on 6 March. The crowd included a veritable who’s-who of naval history and underwater archaeology. The ceremony and plaque dedication honored the 16 crew members who perished when the Union Civil War ironclad Monitor —known best for her clash with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia at the 8–9 March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia—went down in heavy seas off Cape Hatteras on New Year’s Eve later that year.
