Laird Brothers’ Rams

Join us at The Mariners’ for a newly-created series, USS Monitor Legacy Program, that highlights the history and lasting impact of USS Monitor through a variety of public events in partnership with the NOAA Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, will present the multifaceted history of USS Monitor, and the program will be in person and livestreamed from the Explorers Theater at the Museum.

Attending in person? This event is included in $1 admission, and free for Mariners’ Museum Members. Seating is limited.

Watching remotely? This lecture is free to watch and you may register here. 

Advance registration is required whether you attend this event in person or online.

Altru webform & Web: 

Join us for a Monitor presentation with historian John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center, when he gives details about the innovative armored warships built by the British that were intended for service with the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.

Attendees are welcome to send comments or questions to John, and he will answer them following his talk.

About the presentation: Laird was a shipyard in Birkenhead, England, which attempted to construct two ironclad rams for the Confederacy. The subterfuge used to try to create these powerful warships despite the rules of the British Foreign Enlistment Act is an intriguing story of secret agents and political power. Had the Confederacy received these ships in North American waters, no monitor or any other Union ship could have stopped these rams from breaking the blockade of the Southern coastline.