Daily Archives: March 8, 2012

Ironclad Virginia wreaks havoc on wooden Union warships 150 years ago today (1862)

Video: Battle of Hampton Roads begins (at 16:36)

(Saturday, March 8, 1862, during the American Civil War) — The ironclad CSS Virginia (built from the remnants of the USS Merrimack) rammed and sank the USS Cumberland and heavily damaged the USS Congress, both frigates, off Newport News, Virginia, today in the Battle of Hampton Roads.