On October 25, 2005, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation hosted a special awards gala in celebration of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary 30th anniversary. To celebrate this important sanctuary milestone, the Foundation honored U.S. Senator John W. Warner and posthumously honored former U.S. Congressman Herb Bateman with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s Stewardship Award during a gala tribute dinner, Oct. 25th, in Washington, DC.

The evening’s partners included the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and The Mariners’ Museum, and the event sponsors: Dominion, John L. Nau, III, Northrup Grumman Newport News, The Ocean Foundation, RS Information Systems, Inc., and Sodexho.

During the fall of 1861 it became clear that the fate of the civil war may depend on technological advances in warfare at sea. On October 25, 1861 the keel was laid for a new prototype class of Civil War ironclad, turreted warships that would revolutionize warfare at sea – the USS Monitor.

Senator Warner has been a leader in the efforts to recover and preserve the most significant artifacts from the USS Monitor and to provide funds for the new USS Monitor Center at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia to ensure that the story of the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is available for generations to come.

The late Congressman Herb Bateman was honored posthumously with the NMSF Stewardship Award for his integral role in the protection of the USS Monitor and the conservation of her artifacts. As a result of legislation he sponsored, several historically significant components of the Monitor, including the gun turret and Dahlgren guns, have been recovered from the seafloor.

January 30, 2005 marked the 30th Anniversary of Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, which was charged with the mission to protect the wreck of the USS Monitor, a prototype for a class of Civil War ironclad, turreted warships that revolutionized warfare at sea. The Monitor was designed by Swedish engineer John Ericsson and constructed in a mere 110 days. She met her fate in 1862 in a gale off the North Carolina coast where she rests today in 235 feet of water, and is protected today as a part of the National Marine Sanctuary System. Through underwater archaeology and state-of-the-art marine technology, the National Marine Sanctuary Program strives to keep history alive by preserving this significant part of our national maritime history.

The evening kicked off a public service announcement campaign to conserve the artifacts of the USS Monitor – Monitor Artifacts Conservation Campaign. Bringing these artifacts to the surface is only the beginning of a costly and time consuming conservation process. NMSF is committed to protecting and keeping this important piece of American history alive. To learn how you can save this important piece of American history visit Monitor.NMSFocean.org.

During the summer of 2002, NOAA and dive teams from the United States Navy successfully recovered the Monitor's revolving gun turret, with the guns and hundreds of artifacts still inside. At this time, the race is on to conserve these seawater-contaminated artifacts before they disintegrate. In partnership with The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is developing the USS Monitor Center to care for and preserve for the American people the fragile pieces of our naval heritage recovered from the USS Monitor.

The USS Monitor Center will be a national authority and repository for the recovered artifacts, and for archival material, research and educational programming related to the history of the famous civil war ironclad. The Center will house a state-of-the-art conservation facility, exhibit space and a research center. The story of the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, which the Monitor engaged in an epic battle off Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862, will play a major role in the Center.