U.S. #5713n
2022 60¢ National Marine Sanctuaries – Sand Tiger Shark
Issue Date: August 5, 2022
First Day City: Santa Cruz, CA
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Printed by: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd.
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Pane of 16
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 38,000,000
Monitor National Marine Sanctuary is located off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and is centered around the wreck of the USS Monitor. The site is also near a number of World War II shipwrecks in what is sometimes called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."
The USS Monitor was a famous ironclad Civil War ship built to lead the Union Navy. The ship was completed in just 100 days and launched January 30, 1862. On March 9, 1862, it faced off against Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia near Hampton Roads. The battle ended in a stalemate, but Monitor's reputation was cemented in history from then on. It supported Union forces for the next several months before sinking off the coast of Cape Hatteras in a New Year's Eve storm. Monitor remained lost until the wreck was finally discovered by a scientific research vessel on August 27, 1973 – more than 100 years later.
Today, USS Monitor and nearby World War II wrecks are popular destinations for divers. The ships have created artificial reefs that are home to many marine species. One of the most iconic is the sand tiger shark. They may have vicious-looking teeth, but these sharks are a calm species, content to simply cruise among the wrecks, almost keeping watch over these sunken pieces of history.