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Navy Divers Work to Raise USS Monitor

Aired August 05, 2002 - 12:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Navy divers are working to hoist part of a Civil War ship out of the Atlantic Ocean today. The recovery team hopes to bring up pieces of the the gunner's equipment from the USS Monitor. But weather could delay that effort, as it did over the weekend.
Derek Wing of WAVY reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK WING, WAVY REPORTER (voice-over): At about 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the expedition crew was hopeful the USS Monitor's turret would be raised. But these North Carolina, known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, had other ideas.

JOHN BROADWATER, EXPEDITION MANAGER: This area is known for its sudden changes of weather and its unpredictable nature, and we are in one of those periods.

CMDR. BOBBY SCHOLLEY, U.S. NAVY: The heavy currents on the bottom was the major factor in not being able to safely lift the turret up.

WING: Currents so strong that the robotic camera, or ROV, got pulled off track -- even the fish had trouble swimming.

BROADWATER: All the fish around the ROV were swimming with great exertion just trying to maintain their position. But the ROV was sitting on the bottom. So we knew that the current had picked up.

WING: It looked as if the operation would stall. But as the sun rose, so did the expedition's hopes. They held a noontime meeting to decide what to do, and despite some reservations...

SCHOLLEY: We're pushing the envelope right here with these winds at sea. We're pushing it big time.

WING: They decided to go for it and continue the salvage mission.

BROADWATER: I feel pretty confident they can do it in conditions like this. If it doesn't get any worse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

That was Derek Wing of WAVY.

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