The cannons will undergo a five-year preservation regimen. The turret itself will take ten years. The preservation is a slow electrolytic process to replace salts that have become impregnated in the metal over the years the Monitor has been on the bottom of the ocean. The turret was recovered in August 2002.
Sixteen officers and crewmen went down with her. The rest were rescued in a frightening effort in which they had to cross the deck of the Monitor in heavy seas to get into a small, tossing boat. Many men, frightened to immobility, refused to make the attempt even though they were told they would die anyway if they stayed aboard the sinking ship.
