SoonerStormchaser
3/9/2007, 01:40 PM
With Homey out, I'll fill in for today...
March 8, 1862: Battle of Hampton Roads (a.k.a. Marrimac vs. Monitor).
http://library.thinkquest.org/3915/images/ironclad.gif
Duking it out in the Tidewater region.
On this date, 145 years ago, naval warfare changed forever.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, often called the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack, was a naval battle of the American Civil War, 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.
CSS Virginia
http://www.ans-graphics.com/digital_images/css_virginia.jpg
The Union Navy burned the USS Merrimack during the evacuation of the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia in 1861. However, the ship was only burned to the waterline. Under Confederate control, the shipyard 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.
USS Monitor
http://www.navyandmarine.org/NavalArt/HindsBoats/monitor.jpg
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.
First clash between ironclads
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.
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-044.jpg
Kaboom!
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
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 Merrimack 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."
March 8, 1862: Battle of Hampton Roads (a.k.a. Marrimac vs. Monitor).
http://library.thinkquest.org/3915/images/ironclad.gif
Duking it out in the Tidewater region.
On this date, 145 years ago, naval warfare changed forever.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, often called the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack, was a naval battle of the American Civil War, 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.
CSS Virginia
http://www.ans-graphics.com/digital_images/css_virginia.jpg
The Union Navy burned the USS Merrimack during the evacuation of the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia in 1861. However, the ship was only burned to the waterline. Under Confederate control, the shipyard 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.
USS Monitor
http://www.navyandmarine.org/NavalArt/HindsBoats/monitor.jpg
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.
First clash between ironclads
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.
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-044.jpg
Kaboom!
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
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 Merrimack 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."