Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy embarked Monday on a two-day expedition to survey the wrecks of two famous Civil War vessels that have rested on the bottom of the lower James River for nearly 150 years.
Using sonar technology, the scientists hope to retrieve data that will enable them to create 3-dimensional maps of the USS Cumberland, which was sunk off Newport News Point by the ironclad warship CSS Virginia — also known as the Merrimack — during the March 8-9, 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads.
Their second target is the CSS Florida, a captured Confederate commerce raider that was lost nearby on Nov. 19, 1864, following a collision with a Navy troop ferry.
"The remains of the USS Cumberland and CSS Florida, preserved in the waters of Hampton Roads, remind us of the sacrifices made during the Civil War and give us a unique and rare opportunity to explore a pivotal chapter in our nation's history," said David Alberg, superintendent of NOAA's Newport News-based Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.
4 comments:
How much taxes are being wasted on this nonsense???
Just yours sir! Enjoy!
Obama is trying to re-write our History so we are not aware of the slavery days...
Or perhaps your tax dollars will go to good use as the equipment and techniques learned here and from past expeditions have helped to do things such as find the black boxes from the Air France flight that crashed off of Brazil.
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