Ahoy mates! As March draws to a close, I felt it fitting to wrap up the month with what has been called the battle that changed naval warfare.

Enjoy...Kenny

The Battle of Hampton Roads famous for being the first fight between two powered iron-covered warships, or "ironclads", the USS Monitor, an entirely new design, and the CSS Virginia (which had been rebuilt from the burned-out hull of the USS Merrimack). The principal confrontations took place on March 8 and March 9, 1862, off Sewell's Point, a narrow place near the mouth of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The naval battle lasted two days. The first day was the debut of the Virginia and was fought without the Monitor. Havoc was wreaked upon the wooden Union ships, and the day ended with the Confederate side at a decided advantage. However, on the second day the Monitor arrived and initiated the famous action known as the duel of the ironclads. Although the battle was inconclusive, it is significant in naval history. Prior to then, nearly all warships were made primarily of wood. After the battle, design of ships and naval warfare changed dramatically, as nations around the world raced to convert their fleets to iron since ironclads had shown themselves to be clearly superior to wooden ships in their ability to withstand enemy fire.

In the spring of 1861, land-based Confederate forces were able to seize Norfolk, Virginia, and the surrounding area on the south side of Hampton Roads. Bluffed into a bloodless retreat by southern efforts headed by railroad president William Mahone, the Union Navy burned and evacuated the Gosport Shipyard, located in Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, destroying nine ships in the process, including the Boston-built frigate USS Merrimack. However, in the haste and confusion, the Merrimack was only burned to the waterline.
The evacuation left only Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort on the Virginia Peninsula on the north side of Hampton Roads (across from Sewell's Point at the mouth) under Union control in Tidewater, Virginia. The channel ran close to the northern side, however, and Fort Monroe on the mainland was supplemented by an armed installation immediately south of the channel on a man-made island (later called Fort Wool).
Occupation of Norfolk gave the Confederacy its only major shipyard and thousands of heavy guns. CS Brigadier General Walter Gwynn, who commanded the Confederate defenses around Norfolk, erected batteries at Sewell's Point, both to protect Norfolk and to control Hampton Roads.
The Union dispatched a fleet of wooden warships to Hampton Roads to enforce the blockade. Fort Wool and Fort Monroe combined to secure access from Hampton Roads to both the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. However, the waters inland on the James and Elizabeth Rivers were controlled by the Confederate States Navy, which was also using wooden warships. Despite some skirmishes, neither navy was able to overcome the other. The impasse continued through the remainder of 1861, and into early 1862.

Ironclads were warships sheathed with thick iron plates for protection. The first uses of iron for naval protection had occurred in the Far East in the 16th century. (Korea's Admiral Yi Sun-sin built one in 1592). The world's first ocean-going iron-hulled armoured battleship, the French La Gloire, had been recently constructed. However, the use of iron to provide armor on traditional wooden sailing ships was still a developing technology in North America at the outset of the Civil War.
In early 1862, the Union and Confederate governments were each aware that some type of ironclad fighting vessel was under development by the other. Spies had reported some of the details. Each side was anxious to take advantage of the new technology and fearful of what the other might accomplish.
The first Union and Confederate ironclads were very odd-looking in comparison with contemporary warships and also very different from each other. Neither had been completed to the full satisfaction of their respective designers when they sailed into history at Hampton Roads.
During the Union Navy's hurried evacuation of the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia in June of 1861, by burning the USS Merrimack only to the waterline, they inadvertently provided the basis for the new Confederate ironclad. The shipyard, under Confederate control, rebuilt it with ironclad plating and a reduced superstructure from her old burned out hull. She was commissioned as CSS Virginia on February 17, 1862.
Feeling that iron armor would make cannon fire ineffective against ships, the designer of Virginia had her equipped with a ram, a weapon normally associated with ancient galleys and not then used in contemporary warships.
Despite an all-out effort to complete her, Virginia still had workmen on board when she sailed and was rushed into service without the customary sea trials or under-way training.

The USS Monitor was of a totally new design and a favored project of President Lincoln. The unique design engineered by John Ericsson featured an innovative rotating gun turret that housed two 11 inch (280 mm) Dahlgren smooth bore cannon. It also had a low profile in the water, and only a small part of the deck and the gun turret were visible to the enemy. Monitor's hull was constructed at the Continental Iron Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York, and the ship was launched there on January 30, 1862. Her armor had to be reduced from the original design to improve freeboard, but even with the reduced armor her total freeboard was only 14 inches (35 cm).
Monitor was one of the most innovative naval vessels of all time. Parts were forged in nine foundries and brought together to build the ship. The entire process took less than 120 days.
Despite the rapid construction, Lincoln was greatly frustrated that Monitor's delivery from the builder was late. It was rushed to Hampton Roads, arriving later on the very day that its Confederate counterpart had made a stunning debut at the expense of the Union Navy.

The battle began when the large and somewhat unwieldy CSS Virginia of the Confederate States Navy steamed into Hampton Roads on the morning of March 8, 1862, and set to work attempting to break the Union blockade.
Virginia, commanded by Captain Franklin Buchanan, was supported by Raleigh and Beaufort, and accompanied by Patrick Henry, Jamestown, and Teaser.
Virginia headed directly for the Union squadron. She opened the engagement when less than a mile distant from USS Cumberland and the firing became general from blockaders and shore batteries. Virginia rammed Cumberland below the waterline and she sank rapidly, "gallantly fighting her guns," Buchanan reported in tribute to a brave foe, "as long as they were above water."
Buchanan next turned the Virginia on USS Congress. Seeing what had happened to Cumberland, the captain of Congress ordered his ship grounded in shallow water. By this time, the James River Squadron, commanded by John Randolph Tucker, had arrived and joined the Virginia in its attack on the Congress. This lasted for an hour, after which the badly-damaged Congress surrendered. While the surviving crewmen of Congress were being ferried off the ship, a Union battery on the north shore opened fire on Virginia. In retaliation, the captain of the Virginia ordered Congress fired upon with red-hot shot and incendiary shell. Congress later exploded when fires caused by the rebel ironclad caused her magazine to explode. The Virginia was also damaged. Shots from Cumberland, Congress, and Union troops had riddled her smokestack, reducing her already low speed. Two of her guns were disabled and several armor plates had been loosened.
Meanwhile, the James River Squadron had turned its attention to the USS Minnesota which had left Fort Monroe to join in the battle and had run aground. After the Virginia had dealt with the surrender of the Congress, it joined the James River Squadron despite its damage. Because of her deep draft, Virginia was unable to get close enough to do significant damage, and as the fight wore on, darkness prevented the rest of the squadron from aiming their guns to any effect. Virginia left with the expectation of returning the next day and completing the destruction of the Union fleet. She retreated into the safety of Confederate-controlled waters for the night.
The day was Virginia's, but it was not without loss. Part of her ram had wrenched off and was left embedded in the side of the stricken Cumberland. While Virginia was firing on the shore battery, Captain Buchanan's thigh bone was broken by a musket ball. This necessitated turning over command to Lieutenant Catesby R. Jones. Buchanan's leg was subsequently amputated.

Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote to Confederate President Davis of the action:
"The conduct of the Officers and men of the squadron … reflects unfading honor upon themselves and upon the Navy. The report will be read with deep interest, and its details will not fail to rouse the ardor and nerve the arms of our gallant seamen. It will be remembered that the Virginia was a novelty in naval architecture, wholly unlike any ship that ever floated; that her heaviest guns were equal novelties in ordnance; that her motive power and obedience to her helm were untried, and her officers and crew strangers, comparatively, to the ship and to each other; and yet, under all these disadvantages, the dashing courage and consummate professional ability of Flag Officer Buchanan and his associates achieved the most remarkable victory which naval annals record."

It had been a frightening and demoralizing day for the Union Navy. Late that night, USS Monitor, commanded by Lieutenant John L. Worden, arrived in Hampton Roads. The Union ironclad had been rushed to Hampton Roads in hopes of protecting the Union fleet and preventing Virginia from threatening Union cities.
"Upon the untried endurances of the new USS Monitor and her timely arrival," observed Union Captain John A. Dahlgren, "did depend the tide of events."

The next morning, on March 9, 1862, after undergoing repairs, Virginia returned to finish off the grounded Minnesota. The way was blocked by the newly arrived Monitor, which the commander of the rebel ship later described as "little more than a cheesebox on a raft".
After fighting for hours, mostly at close range, neither could overcome the other. The smaller and nimbler Monitor was able to outmaneuver the Virginia, but neither ship proved able to do significant damage to the other. Finally, Virginia retreated, leaving Monitor and the rest of the Union fleet in possession of the "battlefield". Both sides claimed victory. Strategically, Virginia was unable to dislodge the Union blockade, and so while the tactical battle was inconclusive, the strategic balance remained in the Union's favor.
Although the two ships both left the encounter fully functional, the Monitor's guns were considerably more powerful than the Virginia's and managed to crack the Virginia's armor plate in several places whereas the Virginia only managed to dent the Monitor's armor. Having an impact on the action, Monitor's crew used primarily solid shot and aimed at Virginia's upper works; when he heard about it, designer Ericsson was furious, exclaiming that if the crew had used explosive shells and aimed for the waterline, they would have sunk Virginia with ease (quoted by Ken Burns in his documentary The Civil War, episode 2: A Very Bloody Affair: 1862).

Spring 1862 — a standoff at Hampton Roads
During the next two months, Virginia made several sorties to Hampton Roads hoping to draw Monitor into battle. Most days Virginia would slowly steam down the Elizabeth River to the Confederate forts on Craney Island or Sewell's Point. Across Hampton Roads, Monitor and a vast number of Union ships waited for the Confederate ship to venture down towards Fort Monroe.
The Union plan was to engage Virginia in waters of their own choosing. Monitor was under presidential orders not to enter a fight unless it was absolutely unavoidable. The Union Navy Department had leased several large steamers for the express purpose of running Virginia down. The plan was to wait for the Confederate ship to venture into deep water and the large steamers would attempt to run up on Virginia's submerged deck ends and hopefully sink the ship.
Virginia did venture into Hampton Roads on two occasions and attempted to entice Monitor out to fight, but owing to the presidential order, the challenge went unanswered.
What was probably the most anticipated naval battle of its day never materialized. USS Monitor and CSS Virginia never fought each other again.

Impact upon naval warfare
The broad impact of the battle on naval thinking was summarized by Captain Levin M. Powell of USS Potomac writing later from Vera Cruz: "The news of the fight between the Monitor and the Virginia has created the most profound sensation amongst the professional men in the allied fleet here. They recognize the fact, as much by silence as words, that the face of naval warfare looks the other way now and the superb frigates and ships of the line … supposed capable a month ago, to destroy anything afloat in half an hour … are very much diminished in their proportions, and the confidence once reposed in them fully shaken in the presence of these astounding facts." And as Captain Dahlgren phrased it: "Now comes the reign of iron and cased sloops are to take the place of wooden ships."

Fate and heritage of the two famous ironclads
After the Battle of Hampton Roads, neither ship played much of a subsequent part in the war, and neither survived 1862.
Events on land surrounding Hampton Roads forced the Confederates to abandon the Norfolk area. As the evacuation of Norfolk and Portsmouth got under way on May 10, 1862, the officers and crew of Virginia were left with few options. Commander Josiah Tattnall realized that his ship had too much draft to make it up the James River to Richmond, and there was little chance of successfully escaping out of Hampton Roads past the waiting fleet of Union warships off Fort Monroe that were surely anticipating just such a move.
To keep her from being captured, early on the morning of May 11, 1862, Tattnall ordered Virginia run aground at Craney Island and set afire. After burning fiercely for about an hour, the flames reached her magazine, and the ship was destroyed by a great explosion.
More than 10 years after the end of hostilities, on May 30, 1876, the wreck of the Virginia was raised and transported back to the ship yard at Portsmouth where it was broken up.
Portions of the Virginia, including her armor, anchor, and guns, have been displayed for many years at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth and the Mariners' Museum in Newport News. The anchor of the Virginia sits on the lawn in front of the Museum of the Confederacy, established in Richmond in 1890.
USS Monitor became the prototype for the monitor warship type. Many more were built, including river monitors, and they played key roles in Civil War battles on the Mississippi and James rivers. However, while the design proved exceptionally well-suited for river combat, the low-profile and heavy turret caused poor seaworthiness in rough waters. This feature probably led to the early demise of the original Monitor in December, 1862, when she foundered and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In 1973, the wreck was located.

thanks for the work Kenny, USS Monitor is one of the coolest looking boats ever built IMHO
Her build -sinking and raising would be just another story!
JB

Thanks for the read Kenny.

Here is a link to the Monitor museum, http://www.monitorcenter.org/ There is some really great stuff there about the ship.

Hey all,

They just had this story on the history channel this morning. A very good story told by some historians and professors. It was very interesting to know that the battle between the two ironclads was a bit of a stand off. While I was watching the program I wondered why the commander of the Monitor didn't fire at the water line of the Virginia. I would assume it would be because with many of us we focus our attention on what we can see. During me training in the security forces we run drills many times. We have found that if someone can't see a target they won't fire, even if the obstacle can be penetrated by the fire.

This is what I believe happened to the crew of the Monitor. Since they could not see below the water line they didn't fire there. I would assume that cannon fire wouldn't penetrate very far under the water but with these ships being so heavy just one or two shots should have done the trick.

Virginia's Armor extended somewhat below the waterline, mainly as a protection against rams. Beyond that the tendency for cannonballs fired low was to skip across the water, much like a stone. The true mistake made was the reduced charges used in Monitor's XI inch guns, as they had not been "proved" with the full charge. Had Monitor used the full charge her fire should have penetrated Virginia's Armor.

John

John,

Thank you for that. The show I watched didn't mention the reduced charges in the monitor. I kinda thought a cannon ball might not penetrate water very well.