Sanctuary Shorts - Episode 2 "USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage" (8:16) By Matt Dozier In the second episode of our new podcast, "Sanctuary Shorts," we talk to John Broadwater author of USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage which follows the story of the Monitor from its sinking, to its discovery in 1973, to its eventual designation as our nation's first national marine sanctuary. Here's what he had to say. [MP3 Download]

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On a stormy night in December 1862, at the height of the Civil War, one of the most famous ships in American history sank beneath the waves for good. The USS Monitor, the nation’s first ironclad warship, settled in 230 feet of water off the coast of North Carolina in an area known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” which is where it remained hidden for more than a century.

On Aug. 27, NOAA celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1973 discovery of the Monitor’s final resting place by a team of scientists led by John G. Newton of the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C. To commemorate the occasion, we sat down with John Broadwater, former chief archaeologist for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the author of USS Monitor: A Historic Ship Completes Its Final Voyage, to talk about the 150-year-old ironclad’s more recent history.

Released last year to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Monitor, Broadwater’s book offers the most comprehensive history ever written about the pursuit, discovery and designation of this iconic shipwreck as the nation’s very first national marine sanctuary. The book is now available in hardcover, paperback and e-book from most major booksellers.

Signed copies are also available in the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation’s online store, a portion of the proceeds from which help support the foundation’s efforts to educate and connect people with our nation’s underwater treasures.