Posted on 06/30/2011 8:36:57 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Nearly 150 years after they sank to the bottom of a river in Virginia, two Civil War shipwrecks are getting some modern-day scrutiny.
A mapping expedition set off this week to examine the shipwrecks in hopes of assessing their condition and producing detailed images of the sunken Civil War vessels — one Union and one Confederate — that may shed light on the technology used in America's bloodiest conflict.
Using state-of-the-art sonar technology to acquire data, researchers with the U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will create 3-D maps of the two shipwrecks, the USS Cumberland and CSS Florida.
"We are extremely excited about this project," said Alexis Catsambis, underwater archaeologist and cultural resource manager of the U.S. Navy’s Naval History & Heritage Command (NHHC), in a statement. "The information collected during this project will really increase our understanding of the condition of these wrecks."
The USS Cumberland was lost on March 8, 1862, during the Battle of Hampton Roads, where it served in the U.S. Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. The ship sank after being rammed by the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) and went down with more than 121 men.
That next day, revenge arrived in the form of the USS Monitor, a Union ironclad, which fought a fierce battle with the CSS Virginia. Although the fight was a draw, it marked a major turning point in the war, and boosted morale in the North.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Later
How can they find anything if they don't know what river to search?
Historical marine archaeology ping...
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