On March 9, 1862, naval warfare would be forever changed due to the battle between the ironclad giants, Monitor and Merrimac. This iconic battle would prove to truly be a revolutionary naval engagement that changed the course of naval warfare. Merrimac was a northern built vessel that had been docked in Virginia. Members of the confederacy saw the asset in their territory and promptly confiscated it from the Union once they had seceded. They then right-fully renamed it the USS Virginia. Upon the confiscation of the Merrimac, confederate forces rebuilt the exterior of the iron frigate, giving it additional iron plates on the hull of the ship. This made the USS Virginia an unstoppable floating destroyer. The USS Monitor was the Union ironclad and even though it was slower to reload, it was much faster and maneuverable than the confederate Virginia. The USS Monitor was constructed after Union officials saw the newly upgraded Merrimac in action. Both ships were equipped with rotating gun turrets that fired huge projectiles. The USS Monitor came equipped with two, eleven-inch cannons that shot a 170 pound cannon ball that would have easily penetrated any vessel’s hull, except the Virginia. The USS Monitor also had a very eccentric look to it. The deck of the ship was virtually level with the water surrounding it. Designed for speed purposes, the USS Monitor was constructed to be level with the water so it could be better maneuverable and faster. The battle itself took place in the harbor of the James River which is located in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Because of this, the battle is also known as the Battle of Hampton Roads. On March 8, 1862, the impenetrable USS Virginia fired upon some wooden-hulled Union vessels off the coast of Hampton Roads, Virginia. After sinking two more Union ships, they sent the USS Monitor to the harbor to displace the rebel vessel. The ship arrived in the harbor late that night. With the on looking crowds of spectators lining the piers and the coast, the ironclad giants braced for a full on engagement. On March 9, 1862, just after 8:00 am, the confederate’s USS Virginia opened fire on the Union’s USS Monitor. After a few miss fired shots back and forth, the Monitor’s pilothouse was hit, severely injuring the lieutenant in command John Worden. After concluding that the Monitor was completely disabled, eyewitness accounts document that the Virginia turned to attack another Union ship, the USS Minnesota. However, because of low ammo, and a reported leak in the bow of the ship, the USS Virginia set sail for its naval yard. According to the newspaper article, “an eyewitness, who was present, describes the scene as magnificent.” The confederates looked at this naval engagement with great pride because they felt it was a confederate victory. It gave them confidence that they may break the blockade that the Union had sanctioned them with. As for the Union, they saw it as just another victory and raised moral of the Union ranks throughout the whole U.S. On May 9, 1862 the USS Virginia was destroyed upon the confederate evacuation of Norfolk, Virginia. On December 31, 1862, the USS Monitor was lost in a tropical storm off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In 1973 the ship was located and identified as the USS Monitor and in 2002 the gun turret of the ship was raised along with many other artifacts. March 9, 2013 will mark the 151st anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads and the naval battle that revolutionized maritime warfare into what we have today.
Sources:
“A Terrible Fight between the Monitor and the Merrimac." The Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1862.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online, s. v. "Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack," accessed March 04, 2013, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389515/Battle-of-the-Monitor-and-Merrimack.
The Battle of the Ironclads has always been of interest to me. It seems to me that this moment may have been one of the most important in the entirety of the civil war, at least from the point of view of "all of history". This was the precise moment when wooden ships became forever obsolete (unless on the open ocean, and only for a time). Surely the invention of the gun was a more important time in the history of warfare overall, but i cannot imagine a sudden shift in the history of naval warfare that changed the fundamental ways in which battles were fought more than the battle of the Merrimac and the Monitor.
ReplyDeleteI always found it very interesting how quickly technology began to develop after the civil war. Now we have missiles and atomic bombs, air craft and drones but just a century before we were just introducing the first iron clad ships and began to push out very primitive submarines. I agree the Merrimac and the Moniter battle was a sudden shift in naval warfare history, but I would also argue this was a sudden shift for warfare and technology in general.
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