|
Deepseawaters
Home Deep
Sea ExplorationsCumberland
Club 2007
Cumberland Club 2007
June 18 - 29, 2007
 From
June 18-29, the Hampton Roads Naval Museum (HRNM) and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
held a summer enrichment program, giving students the opportunity
to experience being a historian, archeologist and marine-scientist.
Named the "Cumberland Club" after the shipwreck
they would explore, rising 8th grade students primarily from
the largely underserved Norfolk Public School system, were
selected to participate in the free summer program by writing
essays on "Why is history important?"
The
grant from the NOAA Ocean Explorer education program
has given interested students a once in a life time opportunity
to be part of something real. They all want to come back next
year as senior members to mentor the new Cumberland Club
kids, and are all welcome to attend! We plan to follow up
on these kids throughout their scholastic careers, and continue
to aid in any way we can, providing them future opportunities
to pursue careers in science or history.
USS Cumberland
and the Battle of Hampton Roads
 HRNM
interns, Matthew Eng and Rebecca Kaczkowski, developed and
tested a new pilot program incorporating bathymetry and multibeam
technology for the Cumberland Club. The interns created
an imaginary shipwreck including log books, and a fictional
background story. Students were split into groups; each received
a quarter of the fictional multibeam image. Using clay, the
students created a three dimensional model of the multibeam
image. Then putting all four sections together, students analyzed
the log books and background information to try and determine
the fate of the sunken ship.
Nearly
a year into the American Civil War, the USS Cumberland was
moored off Newport News Point. On March 8, 1862 Cumberland
met Confederate Iron-clad, CSS Virginia for the first and
last time.
After
exchanging broadsides with the wooden ship, the CSS Virginia
succeeded in ramming her enemy, the USS Cumberland. With her
ram stuck inside of the doomed ship, the Virginia feared it
too would be brought down with the sinking sloop. The gun
crews of the Cumberland gallantly continued firing, even as
the ships destruction became inevitable. The ship, still containing
the dislodged Virginia's ram, settled in 65 ft. of water,
and atop the masts, the United States Flag still flew triumphantly
above water.
CSS
Virginia continued to decimate the Union's wooden warships
in Hampton Roads until the next day, March 9th, when the USS
Monitor appeared; Virginia had met her match. The Battle between
the ironclads Virginia and Monitor forever changed the face
of naval warfare. Iron and steam power were now seen as far
superior to the wooden, sail powered ships of old.
Artifact
Conservation at Naval Station Norfolk
Today,
the Cumberland's wreckage is protected by law. All artifacts
belong to the US Navy, and the artifact repository is HRNM.
During the program, students learned how to document, photograph
and assess the condition of Cumberland artifacts to determine
which were in need of conservation. Part of the Cumberland
Club funding is being used to conserve two artifacts
from the wreck. Those pieces were chosen by the students during
the project: a grid from the back of one of Cumberland's cannons,
and an unidentified artifact with detailed judicial engravings
on brass rivets, binding together two pieces of wood.
ROV Building
and Competition
In
addition to artifact conservation, the club worked in teams
to build their own remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
Nauticus and NOAA educators, Peter Leighton and Krista Trono,
assisted in providing supplies and expertise. After completion,
the teams competed against each other in timed trials simulating
actual ROV use in underwater archeological expeditions.
The ROVs were constructed out of PVC pipes, stereo wire, fish
tank motors, model propellers, and of course, duct tape.
National
Marine Sanctuaries
NOAA
National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) Educator, Krista
Trono, gave an in depth lesson about the 14 National Marine
Sanctuaries (NMS), featuring the Monitor NMS. The fun
and interactive lessons ended with a highly polarized debate
between the students about the expansion of the Monitor NMS.
Students portrayed various groups impacted by the growth of
the Monitor NMS. Among these groups were commercial fishermen,
recreational scuba divers, tourism boards, underwater archeologists
and other groups that would be impacted by changing the Sanctuary.
Shipwreck
Archeology
HRNM
interns, Matthew Eng and Rebecca Kaczkowski, developed and
tested a new pilot program incorporating bathymetry and multibeam
technology for the Cumberland Club. The interns created
an imaginary shipwreck including log books, and a fictional
background story. Students were split into groups; each received
a quarter of the fictional multibeam image. Using clay, the
students created a three dimensional model of the multibeam
image. Then putting all four sections together, students analyzed
the log books and background information to try and determine
the fate of the sunken ship.
Monitor
Center at the Mariners' Museum
The
Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA hosted the Cumberland
Club for a day. Head Conservator Marcie Renner, and Conservator
Susanne Grieve gave the students an amazing behind-the-scenes
tour of the new Monitor Center and their cutting-edge conservation
labs. Susanne also spoke at our Cumberland Club teacher
workshop on August 17th. The students were given free time
to explore the rest of the Mariners' Museum.
Civil
War Sailors and Sailing
During
the Cumberland Club, students experienced a reenactment
from Tidewater's Marine Life Heritage Association. Alan Mordicca
taught the group about life as a Civil Was sailor. The kids
learned knot tying and sea shanties. Then they went onboard
the sailing ship American Rover for a tour around the harbor.
They learned how to operate the rigging from the American
Rover crew as they listened to Mr. Mordicca perform shanties
with his concertina.
NOAA research
vessel the Bay Hydrographer
 Cumberland
Club spent the second week onboard the Bay Hydrographer,
with only 4 or 5 students fitting onboard the tiny boat each
day. Our cruise departed from the NOAA docks in Norfolk, sailed
to the wrecksite of the Cumberland, off the Newport News Point
pier docks. Once in position over the wrecksite, we all helped
lower the side scan sonar into the water. Inside the ship's
cabin, computer screens showed the river bottom as it was
recorded by the side scan sonar. All of the data was recorded
so that underwater archeologist, Steve Schmidt could mosaic
the data together and create a complete image of the wreck.
The complete side scan image is used to evaluate the current
condition of the shipwreck, providing a "snapshot in time"
of the wreck's state on the river bottom. NOAA researchers
and crewmen allowed the kids to help drive the boat and control
the level of the side scan. The same process was performed
with the multibeam sonar, except that the processed images
are 3-dimensional and displayed in color rather than 2-dimensional
black and white images gathered by the side scan sonar. The
resulting mosaiced images showed increased sedimentation over
the wreck. This is great news for the wreck of U.S.S. Cumberland,
since the sedimentation is protecting it from further damage
and deterioration.
 Email
To Friend
|
