The Monitor and the Merrimack

The Monitor and the Merrimack

The battle on March 9, 1862, between the USS Monitor and the

CSS Merrimack, officially the CSS Virginia, is one of the most

revolutionary naval battles in world history. Up until that point, all

battles had been waged between wooden ships. This was the first battle

in maritime history that two ironclad ships waged war.

The USS Merrimack was a Union frigate throughout most of its

existence, up until the Union Navy abandoned the Norfolk Naval Yard.

To prevent the Confederate Navy from using her against them, the Union

Navy scuttled her. The Confederates, however, raised the ship from the

shallow floor of the ocean and began making some major modifications.

Confederate engineers cut the hull down to the water line and built a

slanted top on it. Then, they bolted four layers of iron sheets, each

two inches thick, to the entire structure. Also added was a huge

battering ram to the bow of the ship to be used in ramming maneuvers.

The ship was then fitted with ten twelve-pound cannons. There were

four guns placed on the starboard and port sides, and one on the bow

and stern sides. Due to its massive nature the ship's draft was

enormous, it stretched twenty-two feet to the bottom. The ship was so

slow and long, that it required a turning radius of about one mile.

Likened to a "floating barn roof and not predicted to

float, the only individual willing to take command of the ship was

Captain Franklin Buchanan. After all the modifications were complete,

the ship was rechristened the CSS Virginia, but the original name

the CSS Merrimack is the preferred name.

The USS Monitor was the creation of Swedish-American engineer,

John Ericsson. The ship was considered small for a warship, only 172

feet long and 42 feet wide. Confederate sailors were baffled by the

ship. One was quoted describing her as ". . . a craft such as the eyes

of a seaman never looked upon before, an immense shingle floating on

the water with a giant cheese box rising from its center" (Ward 101).

The "cheese box" was a nine by twenty foot revolving turret with two

massive guns inside. "The USS Monitor used two of the eleven inch

Dahlgran guns. These Dahlgran guns were massive rifled

cannons that were capable of firing a variety of shot. The armor of

this ship was a two inch thick layer of steel that shielded the ship.

The deck was so low to the water line, about one foot, that waves

frequently washed over the deck causing the ship to lose its balance

in the water. Due to the low profile, the entire crew was located

below the water line, so one armor piercing hit would kill the entire

crew. Like the CSS Merrimack, the USS Monitor was expected to sink, it

was referred to as "Ericsson's Folly. The only

individual willing to take command of the ship was Lieutenant John

Worden.

The battle at Hampton Roads was part of the Peninsula Campaign

that lasted from March to August of 1862. There was a total of five

ships engaged in the battle. From the US Navy, there were four ships,

the USS Congress, USS Minnesota, USS Cumberland, and the USS Monitor.