March 10, 2013
UNKNOWN SAILORS OF THE USS MONITOR BURIED IN ARLINGTON
Arlington, Virginia (JFK+50) Two unknown crewmen of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor* were buried Friday evening, March 8, 2013, at Arlington National Cemetery.
The remains of the sailors had been discovered in the Monitor's turret when it was lifted from the waters off the coast of North Carolina in 2002.
The ironclad sank less than a year after her famous battle with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, aka Merrimac, which took place near Hampton Roads, Virginia in early March 1862.
The Monitor & The Merrimac
1st Fight Between Ironclads
Louis Prang & Company
Boston, 1886
The burial site for the 2 sailors is near the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery.
*The USS Monitor was the 1st ironclad commissioned by the US Navy on February 25, 1862. The 1st Battle of the Ironclads took place on March 8 & 9, 1862 in which the Monitor & Merrimac fought to a draw.
USS Monitor & Her Officers
July 1862
US Naval History &
Heritage Command Photo
The Monitor sank during a storm off of Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862. Sixteen of her 62 crewmen were lost.
The ironclad was designed by John Ericsson with a large cylindrical gun turret mounted above the upper hull.
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