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HATTERAS (AP) — Divers plan to survey the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor off the North Carolina coast this week with high-definition cameras to look for deterioration in the nearly 150-year-old underwater wreckage.

Expedition organizers are hoping for good weather so divers can make maximum dives into the 230-foot-deep waters some 16 miles off Cape Hatteras, Jeff Johnston of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary said Monday.

Johnston said the dive is exciting to sanctuary personnel because it will be the first time the ship will be examined using high-definition images, which make it easier to study the wreckage.

"The camera sees so much better than the eye does," he said, adding that the integrity of the wreck is good. "It allows us to have an annual record of deterioration."

Johnston said the divers don't plan to bring artifacts to the surface.

Major artifacts like the Monitor's historic revolving turret, its engine and propeller have been recovered and are housed at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Va. The wreck was discovered in 1973 and designated the first national marine sanctuary in 1975.

The ship made history on March 9, 1862, during the battle of Hampton Roads against the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia. It sank that year on Dec. 31 in a storm while being towed to Beaufort. However, experts say the ship's design, which included a revolving turret and armor, helped revolutionize naval warfare.

Divers ran into tricky currents Sunday and couldn't launch a robotic sub to survey the wreckage, and the weather may be windy and stormy during the week, Johnston said.

The dive is under the umbrella of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but includes private divers, New Jersey-based Deep Explorers and a team from Rutgers University, which has the robotic minisub.