THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 2, 1995 TAG: 9509020394
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ESTES THOMPSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HATTERAS LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
The Navy ordered divers trying to raise the propeller of the Civil War ironclad Monitor back to port Friday, canceling a frustrating mission a week early because of menacing storms.
Divers aboard the Edenton, a salvage ship based at Little Creek Amphibious Base in Norfolk, had been determined to cut the propeller off the Monitor's corroded shaft and raise it 230 feet to the surface.
Since it began last week, work had been hindered by currents, days of rough seas and equipment problems. The project was a joint operation by the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the Monitor's undersea sanctuary.
``The Navy has ordered the Edenton back with a eye to the storms coming up. They're looking for some rough seas,'' said project spokesman Justin Kenney. ``We may come back in October, but we're not sure.''
The order wasn't a total surprise. The captain of the Edenton, Cmdr. John Paul Johnston, said Wednesday that Navy meteorologists were concerned about Hurricane Luis and other storms. The ship had been receiving regular updates through each day.
There were extremely high seas forecast for the weekend with the possibility of 12-foot waves by early next week.
Kenney said the project is something that can be resumed. The Monitor has been on the sea bottom 17 miles off Cape Hatteras since 1862, when it sank in a gale.
``It's the kind of work you can set down and pick back up some time,'' he said. ``We'll get it.''
It will take the Edenton as long as eight hours to disconnect itself from the four-point mooring that holds it directly over the Monitor's wreckage. Work was scheduled to begin at dawn today to break down the mooring rig.
Earlier, divers were twice thwarted in their attempts to raise the propeller as they battled fickle currents and a finicky cutting torch.
Divers encountered problems on both dives that were made by mid-afternoon Friday, said Monitor spokeswoman Dina Hill. The first time, divers encountered a strong current that nearly knocked them off their diving platform, lowered from the Edenton.
The same problem had occurred Thursday and prevented divers from reaching the wreck.
The second time, the divers lay flat on the platform to reduce the resistance reaching the bottom, and found reasonable working conditions there.
``But the torch wouldn't light,'' Hill said. ``They're really not sure why. They're theorizing the hose got pinched.''
Built in 110 days, the Monitor was designed specifically to counteract the South's ironclad, Virginia. The Union ship Merrimack was renamed the Virginia after it was captured and rebuilt with armored plates and a bow ram. by CNB