<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Courtesy of the Encyclopedia Britannica at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389515/Battle-of-the-Monitor-and-Merrimack">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389515/Battle-of-the-Monitor-and-Merrimack</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------</div><div><h1 class="font-sans-ui" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 2.4em; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; display: inline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); float: left; clear: left;">Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack</h1><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack</b><b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</b> also called <span class="alternate" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold;">Battle of Hampton Roads</span>, (March 9, 1862), in the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/19407/American-Civil-War" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/19407/American-Civil-War" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">American Civil War</span></a>, naval engagement at Hampton Roads, Virginia, a harbour at the mouth of the James River, notable as history’s first duel between ironclad warships and the beginning of a new era of naval warfare.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Northern-built <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Merrimack</em>, a conventional steam frigate, had been salvaged by the Confederates from the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418127/Norfolk" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/418127/Norfolk" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Norfolk</span></a> navy yard and rechristened the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a name="ref138340" id="ref138340" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; outline: none !important;"></a><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/630001/Virginia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/630001/Virginia" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</span></a></em>. With her upper hull cut away and armoured with iron, this 263-foot (80.2-metre) masterpiece of improvisation resembled, according to one contemporary source, “a floating barn roof.” Commanded by Commodore <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/82824/Franklin-Buchanan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/82824/Franklin-Buchanan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Franklin Buchanan</span></a>, and supported by several other Confederate vessels, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em> virtually decimated a Union fleet of wooden warships off Newport News, Virginia, on March 8th—destroying the sloop <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cumberland</em> and the 50-gun frigate <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Congress</em>, while the frigate <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Minnesota</em> ran aground.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Union ironclad <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a name="ref138341" id="ref138341" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; outline: none !important;"></a><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389505/Monitor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/389505/Monitor" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</span></a></em>, under the command of Lieutenant <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/647960/John-L-Worden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/647960/John-L-Worden" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">John Worden</span></a>, arrived the same night. This 172-foot “Yankee Cheese Box on a raft,” with its water-level decks and armoured revolving gun turret, represented an entirely new concept of naval design. Thus the stage was set for the dramatic naval battle of March 9, with crowds of Union and Confederate supporters watching from the decks of nearby vessels and the shores on either side. Soon after 8:00 <span class="bps-small-text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant: small-caps;">am</span> the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em> opened fire on the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Minnesota</em>, and the<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em> appeared. They passed back and forth on opposite courses. Both crews lacked training; firing was ineffective. The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em> could fire only once in seven or eight minutes but was faster and more maneuverable than her larger opponent. After additional action and reloading, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em>’s pilothouse was hit, driving iron splinters into Worden’s eyes. The ship sheered into shallow water, and the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em>, concluding that the enemy was disabled, turned again to attack the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Minnesota</em>. But her officers reported low ammunition, a leak in the bow, and difficulty in keeping up steam. At about 12:30 <span class="bps-small-text" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-variant: small-caps;">pm</span> the<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em> headed for its navy yard; the battle was over.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em>’s spectacular success on March 8 had not only marked an end to the day of wooden navies but had also thrilled the South and raised the false hope that the Union blockade might be broken. The subsequent battle between the two ironclads was generally interpreted as a victory for the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em>, however, and produced feelings of combined relief and exultation in the North. While the battle was indecisive, it is difficult to exaggerate the profound effect on morale that was produced in both regions.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The two ironclads faced off once more, on April 11, 1862, but did not engage, neither being willing to fight on the other’s terms. The Union side wanted the encounter to take place in the open sea. The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em>, on the other hand, tried unsuccessfully to lure the<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em> into another battle in Hampton Roads harbour.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On May 9, 1862, following the Confederate evacuation of Norfolk, the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Virginia</em> was destroyed by its crew. The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em>—with 16 crewmen—was lost during a gale off <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256929/Cape-Hatteras" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; outline: none !important;"><span property="about" href="http://semantic.britannica.com/accepted_headword/core/256929/Cape-Hatteras" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cape Hatteras</span></a>, North Carolina, on December 31, 1862. The wreck of the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monitor</em> was located in 1973, and in 2002 marine salvagers raised the ship’s gun turret and other artifacts from the wreckage.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">--------------------</span></p></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the first battle of ironclad warships, the Confederate Virginia (the rechristened frigate Merrimack, said to resemble “a floating barn roof”) clashed with the smaller Union Monitor.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><img src="cid:8E1B144F-5274-4B0D-8A80-27C1FD105E69" alt="2761-004-409D9A2D.jpg" id="8E1B144F-5274-4B0D-8A80-27C1FD105E69" width="547" height="300"></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-----------------------------------<br><br><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"There's room at the top they are telling you still.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">- John Lennon</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>