Just before dawn on Dec 30, a storm began to brew off the North - TopicsExpress



          

Just before dawn on Dec 30, a storm began to brew off the North Carolina coast. Throughout the day, the clouds increased and the weather grew worse. At 5:00 pm the officers sat down to dinner and joked that their life was no longer monotonous or inactive. As the ships rounded Cape Hatteras, the crew was elated that the Monitor was the first ironclad to round the cape. Then at 7:30 pm, one of the hawsers to the Rhode Island snapped and the Monitor began to roll wildly. During the wild ride, some of the oakum was forced out from under the turret and water starting pouring in through the gaps. The situation became serious as the water level rose below deck. At 10:30 pm, John Bankhead, Monitors Commanding Officer, gave the order for the red signal lantern to be hoisted. At 11:00 pm, Bankhead notified the Rhode Island to send their boats immediately as the Monitor was sinking! To learn more about the USS Monitor visit our legacy site at monitor.noaa.gov/150th
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 16:00:00 +0000

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