.SHIP NOTES, S~~~~!= & MUSEUM NEWS The Mariners' Museum and the National O ceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reached a n historic milestone ea rli er this spring with the completion of conservation work on the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor's 4,600-pound cast-iron propeller. Recovered by NOAA in 1998, the propeller was the first major artifact from the vessel received for conservation and future exhibition by The M ariners' Museum . Likely the only John Ericsso n propeller in existence, it is currently displayed at th e new special exhibition Ironclad Evidence. Never-before displayed artifacts, images, and documents provide a unique look at the first naval battle between two ironclad warships, USS Monitor and C SS Virginia. Numerous historic im ages, personal items and letters fro m the m en who sailed both vessels are displayed in a manner that provides an authentic, firsthand experience of the naval battl e between two ironclad warships. A $30 million addition to The Mariners' Museum, USS Mo nitor Center will be the eventual
home to the pri celess artifacts recovered from the ship and a worldwide resource for exhibitions, conservation , research, and education related to Mo nitor and the larger story of th e naval history of the Civil War. O ver the next two yea rs, as Mo nitor artifacts are conserved, they will find a temporary home in the special exhibition Ironclad Evidence for viewing by the public. Visitors can still view larger M onitor artifacts, such as the turret and engine, as
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they are being preserved within the Monitor Conservatio n Area. (The Mariners' M useum 100 Museum Drive, Newpo rt News, VA 23606; 800 58 1-7245; web sites: www.mariner.org; www.mo nitor. noaa.gov; www.mo nitorcemer.o rg) . • . Nineteen students from Long Island U niversity spem this spring on a semesrer-atsea voyage aboard the Los Angeles M ari-
rime lnstitute's (LAMI) brigantin e I rving Johnson. SEAmester West 2004, an undergraduate semester sponso red by LIU 's Southampton College, began in San Pedro , California, on 7 January and sailed into the Sea of C ortez before crossing the Pacific to the H awaiian Islands. The nineweek trip was the first Pacific passage for the Irving Johnson, one of the twin brigantines launched by LAMI in 2003 . After the successful SEAmester voyage, the Irving Johnson carried o ut week-lo ng educational trips in the H awai ian Islands befo re journeying to San Fran cisco and returning to home port in San Pedro. (Los Angeles Maritime Institute, Berth 84, Foo t of 6 th Street, San Pedro CA 9073 1; 3 10 83360 55; web sire: www.lan1itopsail. o rg) ... Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) is launching the canal schooner Lois McClure in Burlington, VT on 3 July 2004. More than 60,000 visitors have visited the shipya rd where crafts men and volunteers have been co nstructing the 88-foot canal schooner over th e pas t three years.
After the July launch, Lois McCLure will go th ro ugh a series of sea trials befo re beginning her inaugural to ur of Lake C hamplain in September. A professional crew, led by Captain Roger Taylor, along with volun teers who helped build the vessel, will travel aboard Lois McClure to towns alo ng the lake. The museum has also published a companion book, Lake Champlain's Sailing Canal Boats: An !lLustrated j ourney from Lake Champlain to the H udson River, by LCMM executive director Arthur B. Cohn. Richly illustrated, with both histo rical and contemporary ph o tographs and d rawings, the volume rakes th e reader on a jo urney th ro ugh history fro m before the region's first exploration by Europeans to ilie presem day, culm inating w ith the schooner's constructio n. (4472 Bas in H arbo r Rd. , Vergennes VT 0549 1; 802 4752022; web sire: www. lcmm .org) •.. 2004 marks the l 50th Anniversary of the sloopof-war USS Constellation and acri vites will take place througho ut the summ er and fall commemorating the vessel's 1854 launch . This year, the Sail Baltimo re Festival Oune 30 to Jul y 5) includes July 4 th Fireworks dedicated to the USS Constellation . Also on June 30 th , th e US Postal Service will release the USS Constellation l 50th Anniversary co mmemorative stamp. Festivities com inue in August w ith the USS Constellation l 50rh Anniversa ry Festi val-of-the-Sea on Pier 1 (August 28 - 29) . The event features nautical and fo lk music, activities, and gam es, official Naval cerem onies, Constellation crew/descendant reunio n, and historical reenactments (USS Constellation Museum, Pier 1, 301 East Pratt Street, Baltim ore MD 2 1202; 4 10 539-1 797; web site: www.constellatio n. org) ... The Michigan Maritime Museum is building the Friends Good Will, a replica to psail sloop. Friends Good Will is scheduled to sail into her new hom e port at the South H ave n, M I museum this summer and undergo rigging and sea trials in preparatio n for her firs t commercial season in 2005. The original Friends Good WiLL was a m erchant sloop that served in both th e Royal and US Navies in the U pper G reat Lakes. Friends' dram atic service reco rd and her associa tio n with notable perso ns such as O liver H azard Perry and W illiam H enry H arrison offer
SEA HISTORY 107, SPRING/SUMMER 2004