America At War - Concise Histories Of U.S. Military Conflicts From Lexington To Afghanistan by Terence T. Finn Page B
Authors: Terence T. Finn
Ads: Link
Hampton Roads, a body of water at the confluence of the James and Elizabeth Rivers in southeastern Virginia, immediately north of Norfolk. It was on these waters, on March 9, 1862, that two ships, one belonging to Abraham Lincoln’s navy, the other to its Confederate counterpart, fought a battle that forever changed naval warfare.
Upon seizing the Norfolk navy yard in April 1861, Southern engineers rebuilt the partially destroyed Union steam frigate the
Merrimac
. But what they created was an entirely new form of warship. Discarding masts and sails, they constructed an armored warship with sloping sides (the armor and angled structure would cause enemy shells to ricochet off rather than penetrate the vessel) powered by the
Merrimac
’s repaired engine. They armed the ship with ten guns and, in a throwback to Roman times, attached a fifteen-hundred-pound iron ram to the bow. Christened the
Virginia
, this strange-looking vessel first went to sea on Saturday, March 8, 1862. Her commander was Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan, an experienced sailor who had been the first superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.
Buchanan took the
Virginia
into Hampton Roads intent on striking at Union warships that formed part of the blockade Lincoln had ordered the previous year. Buchanan’s first sortie was a success. Employing both guns and the ram, his ship sunk the USS
Cumberland
, a twenty-four-gun wooden sloop, and then so damaged the fifty-gun frigate
Congress
that the Union vessel later exploded and was destroyed.
In but an afternoon the
Virginia
apparently had altered the naval equation of the War Between the States. She had demonstrated that the Confederate navy could challenge the much larger Union fleet and, thereby, break the blockade. If the United States Navy’s blockade could be rendered ineffective, the chances were good that the South might win its battle for separation from the Northern American states.
However, that same Saturday, about an hour after the
Virginia
had dropped anchor, having returned safely to port, an equally strange vessel, this one belonging to the North, tied up alongside a Union warship in Hampton Roads. Her name was the USS
Monitor
.
She had been built in Brooklyn when Union naval leaders had learned the rebels were constructing an ironclad in Norfolk. Designed for calm, coastal waters, her freeboard (that portion of the side of the hull above the water) was but eighteen inches. She carried neither masts nor sails and had a crew of only 49 (the
Virginia
’s crew numbered 360). Amidships was an armored, rotating turret containing two cannons. No one had ever seen a ship like her.
The
Monitor
’s captain was Lieutenant John Worden. He weighed anchor at 8:10 in the morning and steamed out into Hampton Roads. His goal was to protect a Union ship that had run aground the day before. This was the USS
Minnesota
, a vessel the
Virginia
was determined to sink. Thus began the famous “duel of the ironclads.” The fight lasted four hours as the two ships turned and fired, then fired and turned. Neither the
Monitor
nor the
Virginia
was sunk, nor was either seriously damaged. Late that afternoon, they returned to their respective ports. Southerners claimed a victory although the blockade remained in force. Northerners, disputing the claim, simply went to work and built more ships like the
Monitor
.
They also built a large number of shallow-draft, armored steamboats for use on America’s rivers. These would play a key role in the war, ferrying troops and supplies and bombarding Confederate fortifications.
Union shipyards were central to the success of Abraham Lincoln’s cause. During the war years they built 200 warships. They also helped convert 418 merchant ships into military vessels. At the beginning of the conflict the U. S. Navy had only 90 ships. By 1865, the number was 671.
This huge armada enforced the blockade, no mean task as the Southern coastline extended some thirty-five hundred
Upon seizing the Norfolk navy yard in April 1861, Southern engineers rebuilt the partially destroyed Union steam frigate the
Merrimac
. But what they created was an entirely new form of warship. Discarding masts and sails, they constructed an armored warship with sloping sides (the armor and angled structure would cause enemy shells to ricochet off rather than penetrate the vessel) powered by the
Merrimac
’s repaired engine. They armed the ship with ten guns and, in a throwback to Roman times, attached a fifteen-hundred-pound iron ram to the bow. Christened the
Virginia
, this strange-looking vessel first went to sea on Saturday, March 8, 1862. Her commander was Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan, an experienced sailor who had been the first superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.
Buchanan took the
Virginia
into Hampton Roads intent on striking at Union warships that formed part of the blockade Lincoln had ordered the previous year. Buchanan’s first sortie was a success. Employing both guns and the ram, his ship sunk the USS
Cumberland
, a twenty-four-gun wooden sloop, and then so damaged the fifty-gun frigate
Congress
that the Union vessel later exploded and was destroyed.
In but an afternoon the
Virginia
apparently had altered the naval equation of the War Between the States. She had demonstrated that the Confederate navy could challenge the much larger Union fleet and, thereby, break the blockade. If the United States Navy’s blockade could be rendered ineffective, the chances were good that the South might win its battle for separation from the Northern American states.
However, that same Saturday, about an hour after the
Virginia
had dropped anchor, having returned safely to port, an equally strange vessel, this one belonging to the North, tied up alongside a Union warship in Hampton Roads. Her name was the USS
Monitor
.
She had been built in Brooklyn when Union naval leaders had learned the rebels were constructing an ironclad in Norfolk. Designed for calm, coastal waters, her freeboard (that portion of the side of the hull above the water) was but eighteen inches. She carried neither masts nor sails and had a crew of only 49 (the
Virginia
’s crew numbered 360). Amidships was an armored, rotating turret containing two cannons. No one had ever seen a ship like her.
The
Monitor
’s captain was Lieutenant John Worden. He weighed anchor at 8:10 in the morning and steamed out into Hampton Roads. His goal was to protect a Union ship that had run aground the day before. This was the USS
Minnesota
, a vessel the
Virginia
was determined to sink. Thus began the famous “duel of the ironclads.” The fight lasted four hours as the two ships turned and fired, then fired and turned. Neither the
Monitor
nor the
Virginia
was sunk, nor was either seriously damaged. Late that afternoon, they returned to their respective ports. Southerners claimed a victory although the blockade remained in force. Northerners, disputing the claim, simply went to work and built more ships like the
Monitor
.
They also built a large number of shallow-draft, armored steamboats for use on America’s rivers. These would play a key role in the war, ferrying troops and supplies and bombarding Confederate fortifications.
Union shipyards were central to the success of Abraham Lincoln’s cause. During the war years they built 200 warships. They also helped convert 418 merchant ships into military vessels. At the beginning of the conflict the U. S. Navy had only 90 ships. By 1865, the number was 671.
This huge armada enforced the blockade, no mean task as the Southern coastline extended some thirty-five hundred
Similar Books
