Friday, March 9, 2018

MONITOR & VIRGINIA CIVIL WAR BATTLE


CIVIL WAR HISTORY
U.S.S. MONITOR BATTLES C.S.S. VIRGINIA
9 MARCH 1862
One of the most famous naval battles in American history occurred off Hampton Roads,

Virginia, when the two 'ironclads' the Monitor and the Virginia pounded each other

to a draw, their heavy armor deflecting cannon shots, signing in a new era of naval

warfare and steam powered iron ships.

The C.S.S. Virginia was originally the U.S.S. Merrimack, captured by the Confederates,

covering it with armor plate and set out with powerful guns, in 1862. March 8th the

C.S.S. Virginia sank two Union ships and ran one aground off Hampton Roads.

The next day the U.S.S. Monitor steamed into the Chesapeake Bay . She had been

designed by John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer with a low profile, only 18 inches

showed above the water. In the middle of her flat iron deck was a twenty foot turret

which housed two 11 inch Dahlgren guns, With her draft of less than eleven feet

it could operate in shallow harbors and rivers down south. The monitor was

commissioned 25th February, 1862 and arrived at Chesapeake just in time to take on

the Virginia.

The four hour battle began morning of March 9th and the vessels circled one another

jockeying for good position as they fired their guns. The cannon ball simply bounced off

the iron ships. Early afternoon the C.S.S. Virginia pulled back into Norfolk. Neither

ship was seriously damaged but the U.S.S. Monitor had effectively ended the short reign

of terror the C.S.S. Virginia had brought to the Union's shipping.

Both ships met shameful ends. The Confererates scuttled their ironclad when the Union

invaded James peninsula, the Monitor went down in bad weather off Cape Hatteras.

Nevertheless, both ushered in a new era of naval warfare.

Source: www.historytoday.com Abstract: March 9, 2018 Harrison H. for www.iinniblog.


No comments:

Post a Comment