When someone says the phrase “Lincoln’s Secret Weapon” do you think of eloquent speeches designed to break down walls of racial prejudice or Lincoln riding atop some sort of superpowered laser mounted on a gigantic multi-legged, metallic monstrosity wiping Confederate soldiers off the face of the planet? We’d like to imagine the latter, but history books have made him a decidedly eloquent and diplomatic fellow, and so the truth is a sort of middle-ground. It was a metallic behemoth, the United States’ first ironclad ship, known as the USS Monitor and it delivered fury upon its wooden Confederate foes. The Monitor would find its equal in the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, but what would eventually sink it off of Cape Hatteras was her stout and heavy nature in the tumultuous high seas. However, that was not to be her eternal grave, and years later a team of naval divers assembled and brought up pieces and artifacts from the sunken vessel. PBS's Nova chronicles this momentous occasion while providing additional background on the world’s first ironclad warship.
“Lincoln’s Secret Weapon” gives the casual viewer all they could ever want to know about the Monitor, from its rushed conception, to the impact it had on turning the war in the Union’s favor, and its eventual loss between the waves after only a year in service. The footage is notably dated and the underwater scenes are nowhere near as impressive as they would be if filmed recently, but that’s the price we pay for being able to see a piece of history as it happened.
DVD Bonus Features
A set of printable supplements are included so teachers can use it as a learning aide, but there are no digital or video extras to speak of.
"NOVA: Lincoln's Secret Weapon" is on sale February 14, 2012 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Kirk Wolfinger. Written by Jonathan Wickham. Starring Roy Scheider.
