Video: 'The USS Monitor' (March 9, 1862 at 3:26)
(Sunday, March 9, 1862, soon after 8:00 a.m. local time; during the Battle of Hampton Roads, part of the American Civil War) — In one of the most famous naval battles in American history, two ironclads, the Union’s Monitor and the Confederate’s Virginia fought to a draw today off Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The ships fired on each other all morning but their armor plates deflected the shots, signaling a new era of steam-powered iron ships.
The CSS Virginia was originally the USS Merrimac, a 40-gun frigate launched in 1855. The Confederates captured it and covered it in armor plating above the waterline. Outfitted with powerful guns, the Virginia was a formidable vessel when the Confederates launched the ship in February 1862. On March 8, the Virginia sunk two Union ships and ran one aground off Hampton Roads.
Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.2of9.A.Very.Bloody.Affair.' ("Ironclads" at 14:09)
The next day, the USS Monitor steamed into the Chesapeake Bay. Designed by Swedish engineer John Ericsson, the vessel had a low profile, rising from the water only 18 inches. The flat iron deck had a 20-foot cylindrical turret rising from the middle of the ship that housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns. Commissioned on February 25, 1862, it arrived at Chesapeake Bay just in time to engage the Virginia.
The battle between the two vessels began on the morning of March 9 and continued for four hours. The ships circled one another, jockeying for position as they fired. The cannon balls simply deflected off the iron ships.
Video: 'Ironclads (1991) Monitor and Merrimack (CSS Virgina)' (March 9, 1862 at 1:10:53)
In the early afternoon, the Virginia pulled back to Norfolk. Neither ship was seriously damaged, but the Monitor effectively ended the short reign of terror that the Confederate ironclad had brought to the Union navy.
Both ships met ignominious ends. When the Yankees invaded the James Peninsula two months after the battle at Hampton Roads, the retreating Confederates scuttled their ironclad.
The Monitor went down in bad weather off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, at the end of the year. The Monitor‘s wreck was discovered in 1973 and has been partially salvaged. Her guns, gun turret, engine and other relics are on display at the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
