Monday - March 04, 2013

At Rest Again, At Last

150 years later, Union sailors from USS Monitor to be buried at Arlington

Two Navy sailors slated for heroes’ burials at Arlington National Cemetery have waited a century and a half for the honor.

The men were among the crew members who perished aboard the legendary Union battleship the USS Monitor, which fought an epic Civil War battle with Confederate vessel The Merrimack CSS Virgina in the first battle between two ironclad ships in the Battle of Hampton Roads, on March 9, 1862.

Nine months later, the Monitor sank in rough seas off of Cape Hatteras, where it was discovered in 1973. Two skeletons and the tattered remains of their uniforms were discovered in the rusted hulk of the Union ironclad in 2002, when its 150-ton turret was brought to the surface. The Navy spent most of a decade trying to determine the identity of the remains through DNA testing.

“These may very well be the last Navy personnel from the Civil War to be buried at Arlington,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said. “It’s important we honor these brave men and all they represent as we reflect upon the significant role Monitor and her crew had in setting the course of our modern Navy.”

Although testing has narrowed the identities of the men down to six, descendants of all 16 soldiers who died when the ship sank are expected at the ceremony. Diana Rambo, of Fresno, Calif., said DNA testing showed a 50 percent chance that one man was Jacob Nicklis, her grandfather’s uncle. A ring on his right finger matched one in an old photograph, adding to the likelihood he was her relative. She plans to be at the cemetery when he is buried.

...

David Alberg, superintendent of the Monitor sanctuary, pressed for the pair to have Arlington burial honors, as did the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Maritime Heritage Program and descendants of the surviving Monitor crewmembers.

The USS Monitor was the first ship to have a rotating armored gun turret. Armed with 2 11” bore Dahlgreen cannons, each 13’6” long, weighing 8 tons and resting on a 3200 pound gun carriage, each gun could fire 166lb shells over 2 miles. The 21.5’ diameter 120 ton iron turret was protected by 8” thick laminated iron armor. It must have meant instant deafness to be in the turret when the guns fired, or when cannonballs from the Virginia struck it repeatedly. Imagine a gong the size of your living room ...

Posted by Drew458     on 03/04/2013 at 11:02 PM   
Filed Under: • Military •  
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