Contact: Melissa Reifert
October 29, 2007

Marine Archaeologist Broadwater Tells of Expeditions to USS Monitor, Titanic

Dr. John Broadwater’s job has enabled him to take trips that the rest of us can only imagine. These experiences and more were the subject of a special presentation given by the marine archaeologist recently in the Goodloe Center at Mountain Empire Community College. Broadwater is actually a descendant of the Goodloe family, for whom the facility was named.

He also has other ties to the area. His parents were both raised in Big Stone Gap, growing up across the street from one another. After they married, they moved to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where Broadwater was raised. According to Sharon Ewing, Director of the Southwest Virginia Museum, in addition to his remarkable career and life story, Broadwater’s connection to the area was another motivation in asking him to speak at MECC.

“For about two years now, the museum has been partnering with the history department at MECC to bring speakers with ties to the area, who have gone off into the world and accomplished their goals,” she says. “Speakers like Dr. Broadwater show these students what area individuals have done, and what they can accomplish, too.”

Currently, Broadwater is the Chief Archaeologist of the National Marine Sanctuary Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The organization participates in ocean charting and surveying and a large amount of weather forecasting. At MECC, Broadwater spoke about his work at NOAA, as well as his journeys to two very famous shipwrecks, the USS Monitor and the Titanic.

The Monitor was one of the world’s first armored ships or ironclads. It was used during the Civil War by the Union to combat the Confederacy’s use of the USS Merrimack, also an ironclad. Designer John Ericsson was able to complete the Monitor’s construction in just 90 days with permission from President Abraham Lincoln.

The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack at Hampton Roads, Virginia signaled the end of the age of wooden ships with sails. It also marked one of the quickest changes of naval technology and warfare in history. Years later during a storm at sea, the Monitor sank somewhere off the coast of North Carolina. The wreckage was not found until August 1973 when a naval captain plotted its location using logs from a boat that was towing the ship.

Although he was not on the discovery team, Broadwater was on a number of expedition teams to the Monitor site, off Cape Hatteras in an area known as the graveyard of the Atlantic. The site was designated as the United States’ first marine sanctuary on January 30, 1975, meaning it is not to be disturbed without a permit. Broadwater was there in July 2001 when the engine was recovered with the help of U.S. Navy divers. He was also there in 2002 when the ship’s turret was recovered. Today, the recovered pieces from the Monitor are housed in a $30 million wing of the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

“We were able to do the rest of the excavation in relatively dry conditions,” he states. “In the turret, we found parts of Civil War era uniforms, uniform buttons, and gun implementations. We are literally touching the past with this type of conservation. The process allows us to share what we do with the public.”

The public is very familiar with another famous ship that Broadwater visited on the ocean floor. “The Monitor was an icon it its day, but I think the Titanic trumps it in its iconicness.”

After the success of the blockbuster film, Titanic, Director James Cameron organized a trip to the actual site of the ship’s wreckage. The expedition, of which Broadwater was invited to join, was filmed as part of his documentary, Ghosts of the Abyss. In fact, Broadwater’s name is even listed in the cast credits on the documentary DVD.

The expedition featured two and a half hours of free falling in a submersible before the crew reached the actual wreckage. “At first you see some phosphorescent creatures. After that, there is nothing much to see, but then you get that view that is once in a lifetime.”

Broadwater displayed photos from his dive to the Titanic, and relayed how surreal the experience was. “We had sandwiches in the submersible, which was sitting next to the Titanic’s grand staircase. I thought, ‘This is a pretty classy lunch.’”

However, the once-in-a-lifetime experience had somewhat of a sour ending. “I don’t know where you were on September 11, 2001, but I was in the middle of the Atlantic, near the Titanic site.” Broadwater admits that he will never forget the mixed feelings he felt in wanting to enjoy the experience of seeing the Titanic, but also wanting to be back in the U.S. after hearing of the attacks.

Broadwater’s organization, NOAA, is now in charge of the Titanic, and an international treaty was established to help protect it as a gravesite. “She deserves the protective rest she is getting. We try to protect things as they are in their current condition. The Titanic is a steel vessel in saltwater, so deterioration will take place. We want to maintain as much dignity for her as she deteriorates. She has already had her burial at sea and memorial.”

Dr. John Broadwater, Chief Archaeologist of NOAA, told of his expeditions to the USS Monitor and the Titanic at a recent visit to Mountain Empire Community College. His appearance was brought to MECC by the college’s history department and the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap.

(Left to right) Erin Brockmann, Education Director of the Southwest Virginia Museum; Dr. John Broadwater; Mike Strouth, MECC History Professor; and Sharon Ewing, Director of the Southwest Virginia Museum

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