USS Monitor Legacy Program: Steven's Battery

Join us at The Mariners' for a newly created series, USS Monitor Legacy Program, that highlights the history and lasting impact of USS Monitor through a variety of public events in partnership with the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, will present the multifaceted history of USS Monitor, and the program will be in person and livestream from the Explorers Theater at the Museum.

About the Presentation:

America’s first efforts to build an ironclad occurred in 1842 when Congress appropriated

$250,000 to Robert Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey, to construct an armor-cladded

warship. After almost $2 million in expenditures, Stevens’s Battery was never finished due to

technological and design changes as well as increased costs. Stevens did produce a smaller

version known as USRMS Naugatuck. This ironclad fought with USS Monitor during the

Battle of Drewry’s Bluff on May 15, 1862, and then decommissioned.

Attendees are welcome to send comments or questions to John, and he will answer them following his talk.