John Broadwater shows the news team the artifacts
The Cambrian Foundation, NOAA, NURC and UNCW team
The bow of the Monitor
Pieces of wood and an intact glass bottle
Another Fine Diving Day
The official web site for the Monitor Expedition is http://monitor.nos.noaa.gov/.
August 23, 1999 – With us on board the R/V Cape Fear today was a news crew from WECT from Wilmington, North Carolina, Mac Ingraham and his camerman, Ryan Koresko.
As we near the end of the expedition, the conditions are beginning to improve – we have two days left after today. The team assignments for today were:
- Captain, R/V Cape Fear – Dan Aspenleiter
- Principle Investigator – Dr. John Broadwater
- NOAA Historian – Jeff Johnston
- Diving Safety Officer – Dave Dinsmore
- Dive Supervisor – Cindy Creamer
- Diving Medical Officer (DMO) – Michael Ott
- Dive Medical Technician (DMT)/On deck Standby Diver – Doug Kesling
- Chase Boat Operator – Mike Smith
- Chase Boat Support Diver/Chamber Operator – Chris Cote
- In-water Support Diver (deep) – Glenn Taylor
- In-water Support Diver (shallow) – Terrence Tysall
- Research Diver – Jay Styron
- Research Diver – Kyle Creamer
- Research Diver – Tim Gallagher
- Research Diver – John Chluski
- Research Diver – Shawn Douthat
- Research Diver – Michael Ott
Shawn Douthat and Michael Ott took several readings with the stab meter both on the turret and on the armor belt for comparision with the readings taken before. This should indicate whether the anodes are helping and if there is electrical conductivity between the turret and the armor belt. They then moved the next set of anodes that were staged at the downline to along the armor belt at just aft of amidships and connected them to the armor belt.
Kyle Creamer and Jay Styron swam to the bow and reverified the current meter was still working. They then swam back to where the deck light was found, and utilizing a scaling device, they obtained an approximate size of the two holes in the deck. They also located another possible artifact about one foot away from the deck light. This appears to be an intact porcelain basin in a shelf of wood. It is, however, pinned under a section of collapsed hull. They were asked to find a sample of wood to help the conservators determine the state of the wooden parts of the ship and they found several loose pieces in and around the hole in the deck. Next they headed aft to the area where the rifle butt plate was found last year. Just aft of this area they found an intact and completely exposed glass bottle. Protocol for any artifact believed to be in danger is that once we determine its location (by mapping or with photography or videography), we should bring it up. Since the glass bottle was completely exposed, we believed it to be in danger and brought it up. All artifacts will undergo conservation and then will be displayed at the Mariner’s Museum.
John Chluski and Tim Gallagher continued their video mapping of the stern area around the engines. This is very critical since the engines are part of the selective recovery that will take place over the next few years.