USS Monitor Center – Museum – Review – New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/arts/design/10cent.html

The Times reports on a newly opened museum dedicated to the USS Monitor – the Union’s first ironclad. I’m a sucker for all things Civil War, but the scope of this museum sounds intriguingly wider than the usual swords an’ cannons.

…What was ending was not just the technology of sail. The seaman’s center of gravity had changed — which may be why the vessel’s living quarters below the water, reproduced here, were given unusual attention. An entire culture had evolved around sailing and naval warfare, complete with manners and strategies, uniforms and training. Now the action was below the water line. And in combat, there was no more hand-to-hand confrontation or urgent need to know the ropes. This wasn’t really life at sea; it was life in the engine room.

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