RIDGID® gets on board with the restoration of the U.S.S. Monitor

BY KEVIN REEVES
president, Parker’s Heating & Air Conditioning

The U.S.S. Monitor was the first ironclad warship commissioned by the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The vessel participated in the Battle of Hampton Roads, which was the first-ever battle fought between two ironclad ships and sank off the coast of North Carolina during a storm in December 1862. In the 1970s, the Monitor was discovered by a collaborative team of researchers. The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was established to protect the cultural resource.

In the early 2000s, experts from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, the U.S. Navy and The Mariners’ Museum®, Newport News, Va., began to recover and stabilize artifacts from the wreckage, including the steam engine, the revolving gun turret (which was a first-of-its-kind to be mounted on a ship), cannon, propeller, anchor and personal effects of the crew.

Archaeologists at the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and conservators and curators at The Mariners’ Museum have been preserving the artifacts since they surfaced a decade ago. During conservation, the team encountered problems with the disassembly of some of the components from a gun carriage. Disassembly of components is necessary when differing metals like iron and copper alloys are in contact with each other.

“While we were disassembling the gun carriages, we encountered iron screws that would not come loose due to corrosion,” said David Krop, conservation project manager, Monitor Collection at The Mariners’ Museum. “After testing several screw extractors, we discovered that RIDGID® screw extractors were the best for the job. Not only were they durable but, more importantly, they did not cause damage to the artifacts.”

After the success in using the screw extractors, Krop and his team contacted RIDGID to see whether they would be willing to donate additional screw extractors to the project.

“When we heard from David about the U.S.S. Monitor project, we were thrilled to get involved,” said Steve Dyer, director, marketing communications, RIDGID. “Not only did we want to help the conservation team by providing more screw extractors, but we also offered the project team other RIDGID tools, such as the SeeSnake® line, that might be helpful with the renovation efforts. It is an honor to contribute to such a worthwhile and historical cause.”

RIDGID donated 15 RIDGID Model 5 screw extractors with sliding turnouts, the RIDGID microDrain system, the RIDGID SeeSnake micro® 9.5 millimeter camera, the RIDGID SeeSnake micro six-foot cable extension and a free 12-month trial of the RIDGIDConnect™ online collaborative tool to The Mariners’ Museum for restoration of the Monitor collection.

These products came in handy with the restoration process, especially as treatment methods for the artifacts differ for each piece, depending on the type of material it is made from. To ensure each piece is not subjected to the corrosive effects of salt water, most metal artifacts undergo a mechanical cleaning and soaking, electrolytic reduction and are finished with protective coatings. The treatment process can take years — even decades — to complete.

“The great thing about the RIDGID microDrain inspection system and the accessories is that it allows us to see inside the artifacts so we know what to expect and can treat each artifact properly,” said Krop. “When we are unable to see into a tightly sealed artifact like an engine cylinder, we do not know whether that part has been subjected to seawater and thus do not know the extent of our treatment process. The microDrain inspection system allows us to see whether valves were open or closed or whether the small passages were subjected to seawater.”

For example, conservators used the microDrain while inspecting one of the Monitor’s Worthington pumps, a steam pump that was used to pump the bilge water out of the ship. The bilge is the lowest part of the ship, where leaking water and waste is collected.

“While we were working on the Worthington pump, we used the microDrain inspection system to guide us through the various small passages. We were also able to see the position of the pump’s piston and valves when the ship sank,” said Krop. “This information helped us when we were disassembling the pump and allowed us to treat each piece appropriately.”

The Monitor conservation team also found that the microDrain inspection system’s recording capabilities made it easier to archive each step of the restoration process.

“We are generating volumes of data that can be used for future studies,” said Krop. “The RIDGID equipment provides us with live images that can be recorded and saved; in the future, others will be able to see exactly what we have done and what the artifacts looked like when they first surfaced. We eventually hope to use our RIDGIDConnect account to make those images and videos available to the public as well.”

Recently the team began the treatment process of the main steam engine. Again, the microDrain and its accessories played an important role.

“It was very important to us to know whether internal engine components had been exposed to corrosive seawater,” said Krop. “Several years earlier, during the restoration of a similar steam engine in Australia, a group of expert conservators had not been able to access the inside of their engine during the early stages of treatment. When they eventually accessed the closed spaces years later, highly salt-contaminated water poured out of the cylinder, indicating that the artifact required additional treatment time. The microDrain inspection system is helping us prevent another occurrence such as that.”

The Monitor team is also using RIDGID equipment to verify testimonial accounts of the night the ship sank. Francis Butts was a sailor on the Monitor and gave speeches about his time on the warship for several years after the war. One of the details he mentions is that there was a cat on the ship. Butts claimed he placed the cat inside one of the ship’s gun barrels. Using the RIDGID equipment, Krop and his team are searching through sediment from the gun barrels to see whether they can find remains of the cat. It’s an entertaining story, but something that must be thoroughly considered.

“The RIDGID equipment has endless uses for the conservation team at The Mariners’ Museum. It has allowed us to see things that we would never have been able to see otherwise. It helps us to make more informed decisions and to treat each artifact appropriately. At the end of the day, the tools allow us to get the information we need in the best way,” said Krop.

For more information about the U.S.S. Monitor and The Mariners’ Museum, visit: bit.ly/reYZnk.