Drive Starts to Raise U.S.S. Monitor

Ay, leave her shattered hulk to rust! Long has she rocked below, And many a fish has swum to see The grandma of the "Mo'; Above her piles the coastal tramp And plops the dinghy's oar;--The Yankee Cheese Box on a Raft Shail rout the Reb no more.

Her gun revolved in turret round, And warned the Southern foe That ne'er a band of selfish men Our Union could o'erthrow' No more her ironclad deck shall boast The strength to make men free;--Sixth Naval District brass have scorned The Scourge of Slavery!

Oh better that her rusted shell Should rest beneath the wave; If naval hearts have turned to lead, Then leave her to her grave; Left flounders man her silent gun, Let squid now grasp her wheel; For men once bold, have lost their nerve, And only ships are steel! Stephen O. Saxe '51 and   Andrew E. Norman '51,   With thanks to   Oliver W. Holmee

April 13, 1951

Cambridge, Mass.

The CRIMSON today inaugurated its campaign to raise the U.S.S. Monitor, the famous Union ironclad which fought an historic battle with the Confederate ship Merrimac on March 9, 1862. The ship was discovered in 120 feet (20 fathoms) of water, 20 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, according to an Associated Press dispatch yesterday. Sixth Naval District spokesmen said they have "no plans" for raising her.

The Monitor's famed Civil-War duel with the Merrimac took place off Newport News, Virginia. She foundered in a gale off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1863.

The CRIMSON campaign has been officially named "American Students for Raising the Monitor." It seeks to rally students and other patriotic citizens to the cause of preserving the Ironclad as a National monument. A public statement in the form of a poem (printed above) has been composed by leaders of the campaign as the opening salvo.

The authors of the poem stated last night that it was written "in an impromptu outburst of feeling."

Robert G. Albion, Gardner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Some observers believe that he is now in Washington, D.C., spearheading a separate drive to raise the Monitor and dedicates her as a national shrine.

Samuel Eliot Morison, Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, was a lone dissenting voice. "Twenty fathoms is too deep for normal diving operations," he told the CRIMSON last night.

CRIMSON campaign leaders commented that "this is certainly no normal diving operation." We must raise the Monitor at any cost.