Get Into Your Sanctuary!
A piece of history sits in 230 feet of water 16 miles from Cape Hatteras. The wreck of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad ship, has been studied in-depth since its discovery in 1973. The ship sank during a storm on December 31, 1862, while being towed to a new battle site.
Once the shipwreck was confirmed as the USS Monitor in 1973, government officials began working to protect the site. A unique idea was presented: the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, passed in 1972, could be used to protect the area. While the act intended to protect natural resources, its first use was to protect the Monitor shipwreck and the surrounding water, creating the very first National Marine Sanctuary in the United States in 1975.
