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Lincoln's Secret Weapon
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Program Overview
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NOVA follows chief archeologist John Broadwater, master diver Donny
Denis, commander Chris Murray, and a 30-man Navy dive team as they
mount an intensive effort to salvage and study the Civil War
ironclad ship Monitor.
The program:
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reports how having the Monitor allowed the North to
reinforce its blockade of the South.
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relates how the fight between the Monitor, the Union's
first ironclad ship, and the Confederate ironclad
Merrimack anticipated the end of wooden-ship warfare.
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recounts the biography of its inventor, John Ericsson, a
mechanical engineer who designed the screw propeller, the
rotating gun turret, the air-ventilation system, and many other
innovations.
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tells the story of the battle of Hampton Roads where the two
ironclad ships clashed, a battle some historians believe was
more important than Gettysburg.
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shows how the dive team faced particular salvage difficulties
and dangers posed by the location of the Monitor wreck in
the Atlantic's Graveyard near Cape Hatteras.
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describes how maintaining strict procedures protects the divers
from the physiological hazards of diving at depths more than 200
feet (61 meters).
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reenacts the battle between the Monitor and
Merrimack.
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