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Surveyors Find What May Be Remnants of USS Merrimack

Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The Associated Press

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has called for a follow-up investigation to decide if the wreck spotted in the survey is the Virginia (the former USS Merrimack). If it is, federal and state laws require that the ship's remains be removed before any dredging can take place.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- AP
An underwater survey found what might be remnants of the Confederate ironclad warship Virginia, the former USS Merrimack that fought the Union's ironclad Monitor in the 1862 battle that redefined naval warfare.

"It would be a stroke of incredible luck to discover it after all these years," said Dick Hoffeditz, curator of the Virginia War Museum in Newport News.

The underwater survey, for the proposed construction of a marine terminal on the Elizabeth River, describes two shipwrecks in the area and says there is "a distinct possibility" that they might be parts of the Virginia and of a schooner that hit the submerged wreck and sank next to it.

The Monitor and the Virginia -- which was built on part of the salvaged hull of a Union sailing ship, the USS Merrimack -- fought a pounding battle near Newport News on March 9, 1862.

It was the first clash of wooden ships armored with steel plates to repel cannon balls. Most historians consider the four-hour battle a draw.
(More: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
2003 © The Associated Press.

Dan