Welcome to the companion Web site to
"Lincoln's Secret Weapon,"
originally broadcast on October 24, 2000. The film chronicles
an expedition to study and retrieve parts of the USS
Monitor, the famous Civil War ironclad, which sank off
North Carolina only months after its famous battle with the
CSS Virginia. Here's what you'll find online:
Tour the Monitor
(QTVR)
Lead yourself on a tour of the Monitor above and
below decks with these striking 360° panoramas,
created to show how the ironclad appeared when it first
set sail a century and a half ago.
Behind the Scenes
How did the NOVA film crew go about filming the wreck of
the Monitor, which lies so deep (234 feet) that
to be safe, divers must breathe special mixtures of gas?
In this candid piece, producer D.J. Roller divulges the
the team's secrets. Plus: Saving the Monitor, by
John Broadwater, Manager of the Monitor National
Marine Sanctuary.
Eyewitness to the Battle
"[T]he infernal howl of the shells as they flew over our
vessel was all that broke the silence & made it seem
still more terrible." Read more harrowing first-person
details, and see photos and illustrations, of the most
famous naval skirmish of the Civil War.
Steam Machine
(Hot Science) Monitor designer John Ericsson used a
piston-driven steam engine to power his iron vessel. In
this interactive feature, find out how a steam engine
works and try to run one for yourself.
