Shipwreck Teaches Students About History

ON THE JAMES RIVER, Va. -- Five 13-year-olds in life jackets crowded inside the cabin of a small research boat and stared at a bank of computer monitors.

Suddenly, a dark gray mass appeared on one of the screens _ a sonar image of the wreckage of the Civil War-era frigate USS Cumberland.

As members of the Cumberland Club, the kids studied artifacts from the ship, then helped researchers beam sonar to the bottom of the James River near the coal piers in Newport News to check on the condition of the ship itself.

The U.S. Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hold the summer enrichment program, which gives students a hands-on feel for what it's like to be historians, archaeologists and marine scientists.

"It was fun to be able to do things that are important that kids don't usually get to do," said Jazmine Brooks of Norfolk, who'll be in eighth grade in the fall.

The Cumberland Club, now in its second year, is free to the middle school students and funded by a grant. To be selected, students wrote essays on "Why is history important?"

Before their river outing, the 18 students spent a week studying and going to the naval museum and The USS Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News to learn about conservation and archaeology techniques and the history of the Cumberland.

The ship, launched in 1842, sailed to a number of Mediterranean ports, served in the Gulf of Mexico during the Mexican-American War and patrolled the coast of Africa to suppress the slave trade.

The Cumberland was anchored off Newport News on March 8, 1862, when the CSS Virginia arrived to attack a Union blockade. The Virginia pushed her iron ram into the Cumberland's side and the ship began to sink, its gun crews continuing to fire. About 100 men died.

The fight demonstrated the superiority of armored, steam-powered ships over traditional wooden sailing ships.

The next day, the Virginia and the Monitor fought a battle that ended in a standoff. The Virginia had torn off most of its iron spar when it backed away from the Cumberland, and some historians think the Monitor was spared from further damage because the spar could have penetrated the hull below its armor.

Today, the Cumberland's wreckage is protected by law. The Cumberland Club students got to handle some artifacts that belong to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum.