During the Civil War the Union blockade of Confederate rivers and ports severely damaged the southern economy. To fight back the south refit a captured northern ship (renamed the Virginia) with iron cladding thick enough to withstand fire from new rifled canons. The north responded by building their own iron clad ship, the Monitor. These two ships met at the mouth of the James River for the first battle in the US of iron clads which ended with both sides thinking that the other had withdrawn from the fight. The blockade remained in place and the two ships never met in battle again but both were destroyed within a year. The Virginia was set on fire to keep it out of Union hands and the Monitor sunk in high waves as it was being towed.
The resting place of the Monitor was located in 1949 and again in the 1970s but it wasn’t until 1998 that parts of the ship were recovered for conservation. A replica of the turret, which was cut off and raised from the ship in 2002, is on display in the museum along with detailed recreations of the living quarters and cases with recovered artifacts. Other exhibits in the museum cover ancient seafaring ships and maps, the history of the navy, the story of steamships, and the wonderfully detailed miniature ship models made by August Crabtree. We spent four hours in the museum and didn’t see half of it so plan accordingly.
Everything is accessible.
The parking lot is large enough for any RV. Museum
37.05533, -76.48913
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