Event of 1862: USS Monitor sinks in a storm in the Atlantic, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Background. USS Monitor was an ironclad warship built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War, completed in early 1862. Designed by John Ericsson and built in Brooklyn, it became the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. After participating in the Battle of Hampton Roads and supporting Union forces on the James River, Monitor was ordered to join the Union Navy blockaders off North Carolina in December 1862.

Deployment to North Carolina. On 24 December 1862, orders were issued directing Monitor to Beaufort, North Carolina, to join USS Passaic and USS Montauk for a joint Army-Navy expedition against Wilmington. The ship was to join the blockade off Charleston. Monitor put to sea on 31 December, under tow from the steamship USS Rhode Island, as a heavy storm developed off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Sinking and Structural Failure. During the storm, the overhang between the upper and lower hulls came loose and partially separated due to slamming into violent waves. Stodder defended the crew, noting unavoidable circumstances led to the sinking. A red signal lantern, possibly used for distress, was recovered from the site in 1977, marking the last visible object before the ship sank.