Monitor's secrets chipped away

Five years of painstaking archaeological work came to an end this week when conservators at The Mariners' Museum chiseled the last stubborn pieces of concreted sand and rust from the inside of the USS Monitor gun turret.

Bolstered by interns from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, the summer-long excavation turned up more than a dozen unexpected artifacts - including silverware, bullets and gun-sight covers - hidden inside the last few inches of concretion. It also uncovered several previously unknown features of the pioneering Civil War turret, including brass fittings for the sight holes drilled through its thick armored walls.