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CNN Live Today
Navy Dive Chief Discusses Raising of Monitor's Turret
Aired August 06, 2002 - 11:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, what goes around comes around. The two cannon gun turret from the ironclad USS Monitor is a priceless naval artifact dating back to the Civil War. Yesterday, it was successfully recovered off Cape Hatteras. Part of a skeleton, perhaps that of the Union gunner on board, was removed from the turret earlier.
The Navy's dive chief commander Bobbie Scholley joins us now on the phone to give us some more information about this amazing procedure that took place yesterday.
Commander, how are you?
CMDR. BOBBIE SCHOLLEY, NAVY DIVE CHIEF: I'm great. How are you, Leon?
HARRIS: I am fascinated by this entire project. This is an incredible achievement. How would you rate this in terms of all the different recovery operations NOAH has undertaken?
SCHOLLEY: Actually, this is probably one of the biggest salvage operations that the U.S. Navy has done in years. The lift ended up being over 250 tons, which is a pretty good size lift for us. And the fact that we brought it up from 240 feet of water was very, very significant.
HARRIS: What kind of condition was it in when you finally got it up?
SCHOLLEY: Actually, the turret's just beautiful. Yes, it does have a lot of rust on it, but it is very structurally sound. It is all intact. You can still see those dents from those cannon shots from 140 years ago.
HARRIS: No kidding. Let me ask you about the skeleton that was found down there. As I understand it, the visual picture that was painted for us was that this ship was actually turned pretty much upside down and the skeleton was basically inside the turret, but I guess being crushed by a cannon inside there -- is that how it was?
SCHOLLEY: Yes, the ship did turn over after it sunk and was resting upside down on the bottom. And as we started excavating inside the turret in order to lighten the weight of the turret before we could lift it, we did find the remains of one of the Monitor's sailors. I wouldn't say he was being crushed by the cannon, but he was found in the vicinity of the cannon, close to what was the roof of the turret before it flipped over. HARRIS: Can you give us a description of what kind of condition that skeleton is in?
SCHOLLEY: You know, I'm not an expert at that. But we did have an expert on board from the U.S. Army's Central Identification Lab out of Hawaii. And he told us that it was in amazingly good shape.
HARRIS: Really? Do they expect then because of that condition that they will be able to identify who it was?
SCHOLLEY: That's what we are hoping for. Between the lab experts out in Hawaii and the historians who are trying to put this story together, they are really hoping that they might be able to pin it down to one individual, and then we will know, and that will be great.
HARRIS: That is absolutely amazing.
Can you tell us anything else about what was inside the turret when you brought it up?
SCHOLLEY: Well, we got both guns, which is wonderful. There was some speculation at the beginning of the summer whether the guns were still in the turret or not, since we hadn't seen them before. But they are both in there, and we've got them on deck now. And then some other artifacts. A lot of the gun maintenance equipment is still there. But we still have a significant amount of sediment in the bottom that the archaeologists are going to do some additional excavation at the museum and hopefully find more artifacts.
HARRIS: Any personal effects from the other people who may have been on board but did get away?
SCHOLLEY: Nothing -- well, a few buttons -- you know, jacket buttons -- and a couple pieces of fabric. But no other personal effects yet. But you never know. There might still be something in there.
HARRIS: We are looking at pictures even as we speak right now. I don't know if have you a monitor anywhere around you. But we are looking at pictures of the turret when it was raised there, and really amazingly to me, I have seen things that have been on the bottom of my son's bathtub for 20 minuted that looked worse than this. This is not in that bad of condition for something that has been under the water for 140 years. Can you explain that?
SCHOLLEY: I tell you, the craftsmanship and the technology that went into this ship 140 years ago is very, very impressive. Each step of the way while we have been doing this salvage project, we are constantly amazed at how well the ship was put together. They built them right back then. It stayed in tact.
HARRIS: Yes. A whole difference sense of appreciation for the engineering then.
Finally, let me ask you this. I understand you raised the engine from this ship last year. Where are you going to put all of this stuff together?
SCHOLLEY: Actually, we got the engine back up last year and the turret is even bigger. It's all going to the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia. We will be entering port Friday morning to deliver it to Newport News, which is very close to the location of the battle, back in 1862. And the museum will then spend about 10 years to conserve it.
HARRIS: That's incredible.
Finally -- I promise this is the last one: How big is this thing? I'm looking at it, and it's hard to tell. Is it as big as a Volkswagen or as a clothes basket? Which one is it?
SCHOLLEY: It's bigger than a Volkswagen. It's 22 feet in diameter and 9 feet tall. So it is huge. Standing in front of it, you could tell it is just a huge turret. I would say it's a school bus size.
HARRIS: That's a huge accomplishment, to raise something like that from the bottom of the ocean there.
Navy dive chief Commander Bobbie Scholley, thank you very much. And give our congratulations to all the crew there. That is an incredible achievement. We know you all must be very, very proud.
SCHOLLEY: Thanks very much, Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you very much.
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