Meet Two Sailors of the U.S.S. Monitor

An amazing team of historians and forensic experts have released the amazing results of years of construction of the features of two of the men who died in the USS Monitor in 1862. They have come to life in these pictures.

From the skulls discovered in the wreck the scientists were able to conclude the older sailor walked with a limp and always had a pipe clenched in his teeth while the younger sailor had a busted nose and wore beat-up, mismatched shoes. They were both drowned in the ship when it capsized off Cape Hatteras and sank upside down in 40 fathoms of water.

This incredible work was performed as a cooperative effort of over 40 years by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Navy, the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va., and other groups.

While most of the 63 crewmen escaped the Monitor, some sixteen died in the wreck. Most are still at the bottom of the Cape. 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the USS Monitor.

Experts believe that the older sailor could be first-class fireman, Robert Williams, 30 — a Welsh man who is known to have similar features.

Source: Washington Post