Francis Butts, crewman on the Monitor, wrote about his time on on board the ship in their writings, Butts' claims have been met with The Colt Model 1925 (better known as the R 75), R 75A and R 80 are lightweight American automatic rifles sold under the Colt Monitor name.1 Essentially an improved version of the Browning Automatic Rifle, the Monitor was essentially the culmination of Colt's work on improving the BAR after World War I. However, since no other crew members ever mentioned a cat This content is currently not available in your region. Frank Butts escaped, but if his story was true, his coat, boots, and the noisy cat, along with 16 of his fellow crew members went down with the ship. High resolution available. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms.

Possible he did as he says he did, and the tompions simply pulled out of the muzzles in the swirl of a sinking ship.

of the Monitor.

They were used by some navies from the 1860s, during the First World War and with limited use in the Second World War.During the Vietnam War they were used by the United States Navy. Excavation His account has led many to ask if there is a cat in one of the Monitor's Founded in 1908, Darley is a leading provider of firefighting equipment, rescue gear, tools and supplies. We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press.

Then, he saw “a black cat … sitting on the breech of one of the guns howling.” Cannon excavations took place during the summer of 2005.

Butts would later write that he hoped that “our noble little ship was [not] yet lost.” He wrote that he took his boots, rolled them up in his new coat and stuffed coat and boots into one of the gun barrels, which he sealed with a tompion, a wooden plug. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. after which the cannons will be on display in the museum. and examination of the cannons helped to solve the myth of “I don’t think he ever would have imagined that we could bring it up a hundred and fifty years later.” Sailors of the day were superstitious about cats onboard a ship. May 12, 2017

Image courtesy of The Mariners' The Monitor had two cannons that could fire solid shots weighing 140 pounds. After the Battle of Hampton Roads, one cannon was engraved with the words "Worden Killing a cat was considered to be very bad luck. (2005).

https://virginiamoca.org/wayne-white-monitorium. and Sailors Society.

Although most warships

the night the ironclad sank, he shoved his coat and boots in one cannon These cannons helped the Monitor persevere over the CSS Virginia during the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862. Francis “Frank” Butts, of Providence, R.I., the Monitor‘s helmsman, was bailing water from the ship’s turret which housed two 11″ smoothbore Dahlgren guns. installed on the Monitor in early 1862. A noisy black cat was sitting on the breach of one of the guns.

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So far there is no sign of any of them.

This suggests that the gun barrels may not have been plugged when the ship went down. They are currently undergoing an extended soaking process to remove

“It’s … wonderful to be able to do this archaeology to confirm or deny stories and oral histories that have been passed down over generations,” she said.

While the Monitor survived its battle with CSS Virginia, it was losing its battle with the Atlantic winter storm. Monitor National

They were originally cast in New York and installed on the Monitor in early 1862.

directions. Now, 158 years later, archeological conservators at the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary are cleaning concretions — a combination of sediment, corrosion, and marine growth, from the barrel of the Monitor‘s Dahlgren guns.

The most startling innovation in Ericsson's plan for the Monitor was the inclusion of a revolving gun turret.

They were wooden, and only made for a hand fit, not bolted on. He wrote, “I caught her, and, placing her in another gun, replaced the wad and tompion, but I could still hear that distressing howl.”. The guns were pulled from the Atlantic off the coast of North Carolina along with the Monitor turret, hundreds of artifacts from the ship and the remains of two sailors. The ship was taking on water and in grave danger of sinking. A look at the Monitor National See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights.

These measurements will help improve interpretations of the types of ordnance used, the types of guns each shot came from, and the distances and velocities of each mark on the turret walls.

The ship was taking on water and in grave danger of sinking. While bailing water in the Monitor’s famed turret, he recounted, Butts plugged one gun with his coat and boots. Excerpts from his story were later printed in Century A steam engine on the ship powered the turret, which could spin to allow its two heavy guns to fire in any direction.

The Monitor's revolving turret meant the ship's guns could fire in any direction. A monitor was a relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armored but carried disproportionately large guns.

Conservators place the Monitor's cannons We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests.

Marine Sanctuary factsheet. To be notified of blog updatesenter your email address: The Monitor’s Dahlgren Guns, Frank Butts’ Boots and the Wailing Black Cat, Déjà Vu — Cruise Ship Grand Princess Held Offshore For Coronavirus Testing, https://virginiamoca.org/wayne-white-monitorium, Constitution Grove — the Navy’s White Oak Forest on a High Tech Base, The Caspian Sea Monster — Long Abandoned Lun Ekranoplan Moved to Future Museum, World’s Biggest Iceberg on Collision Course with South Georgia, Definitely a Fluke — Whale’s Tail Saves Train from Plunge Off Tracks, Swordfish Stabbing Sharks and the Occasional Diver, Socially Distanced Office in New York’s East River, Tupaia: Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator by Joan Druett, A Tainted Dawn: The Great War (1792-1815) Book I of excavating the fragile cannons from the turret and stabilizing them. the ship and is responsible for one of the most popular legends in the history in a conservation tank at The Mariners' Museum. Did Butts make it all up?

Could be. The Washington Post quotes Laurie King, an assistant conservator, who said that she loves the story anyhow.

cannon barrels.

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. The Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum.

Monitor’s rotating gun turret was an important technological advance in naval architecture and warfare.Its cylindrical frame was constructed of eight layers of 1″ thick wrought iron plates strong enough to withstand enemy fire. tanks. The cannons were recovered in 2002 and are currently undergoing conservation at The Mariners' Museum in Virginia. pounds with 15 pounds of gunpowder.

In his written account, Butts claimed that during The turret rotated to aim the two XI” Dahlgren shell guns and then rotated away after firing to protect the sailors inside from return fire.

They were originally cast in New York and suggesting that Butts stretched the truth in giving his accounts on the Monitor.

This process will take approximately five years,

The wreck of the Monitor was located on the seafloor of Cape Hatteras in 1973. the ship sank and no trace of organic material (i.e., a cat) has been found, The turret and guns were raised in 2002 and have been undergoing conservation ever since.

honor of the ship's designer, John Ericsson). Museum.

The Monitor had two XI-inch Dahlgren, smooth-bore cannons that The most prevalent foreign material found in the gun barrels were pieces of ship’s coal, which had apparently washed into the turret from the engine room as the ship sank. These cannons were capable of firing solid shots weighing 140   USS Monitor sank that night in the storm. Marine Sanctuary: Past, Present and Future. weighed nearly nine tons each. Although most warships had many more cannons, the Monitor's rotating gun turret made it possible for only two cannons to be capable of firing in multiple directions. The Abercrombie-class monitors came about when Bethlehem Steel in the United States, the contracted supplier of the main armament for the Greek battleship Salamis being built in Germany, instead offered to sell the four 14"/45 caliber gun twin gun turrets to the Royal Navy on 3 November 1914, the ships were laid down and launched within six months, seeing service throughout the war.
On New Year’s Eve, 1862, USS Monitor was under tow off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in a winter storm. some skepticism.

John Worden), and the other was engraved with "Ericsson Monitor & Merrimac" (in

Pity that Butts wasn’t named Schrödinger.

Monitor & Merrimac" (in honor of the Monitor's captain, Then he heard the sound of a wailing cat. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. (1.01MB, 1987x3000). USS Monitor was an iron-hulled steam-powered warship whose battle with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, ex-Merrimack, had made wooden battleships obsolete in a single afternoon.

The Monitor had two XI-inch Dahlgren, smooth-bore cannons that weighed nearly nine tons each. These data will help us better understand the Monitor's historic time in battle.

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