See an old Civil War shipwreck in detail with new high-resolution sonar images
March 24, 2026
Smithsonian Magazine features the sonar imaging survey of the sunken USS Monitor, the U.S. Navy’s first ironclad warship
On December 31, 1862, the USS Monitor—the U.S. Navy’s first ironclad warship—sailed into a storm and sank off the coast of North Carolina. Now, more than 160 years later, a team has produced the first high-resolution sonar images of the Monitor, offering an unprecedented look at the pioneering Civil War vessel as it rests on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
In September 2025, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Stantec, and Northrop Grumman surveyed the Monitor shipwreck using an autonomous underwater vehicle equipped with specialized sonar mapping technology.
The scan produced highly detailed images that scientists are now using to study features that were previously obscured by the murky water, monitor the protected site, and develop educational tools that allow future generations to not only hear its history—but see it as well.
Image Credit: Northrop Grumman