American Civil War Ironclads Clash in Historic 1862 Battle

Ex Scientia Tridens
American Sea Power Unprecedented Global Reach

session vi
American Civil War, 1861-1865
Part 2; The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action

“THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT, lacking the warships or shipbuilding capacity of the
North,….arguing that ‘Inequality in numbers may be compensated by invulnerability’ began
converting a captured [in the Norfolk Navy yard] US steam frigate, Merrimac, into an ironclad.
Her side timbers were cut down to the waterline and a casemate or battery was built on the
lower hull over some two-thirds of her length, sloping inwards at about 45º; it was constructed of
20 inches of pine overlaid with 4 inches of oak with two layers of 2-inch-thick plates rolled out
from railroad irons bolted on top.…”
Peter Padﬁeld, Maritime Dominion and the Triumph of the Free World; Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World, 1852-2001. p. 39.
4
The American Civil War, 1861

“…on top. Pierced all around with fourteen gun ports, it was to house ten guns, six 9-inch
smooth-bore cannon and four 6- or 7-inch riﬂed shell guns. A single funnel protruded from the
top; all masts were removed. A cast-iron ram was attached at the bow of the lower hull.”
Ibid.
4
The American Civil War, 1861

Major Topics
I. The New Year
II. The Iconic Ships
III. The Battle
IV. Other Ironclads

The New Year
George B. McClellan
“Little Mac” or “The Young
Napoleon”
led the Peninsula Campaign;
Mar -Jul 1862
Matthew Brady, 1861. Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs Division

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The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Potter & Nimitz, eds., Sea Power, p. 262.
“The year 1861 had been one of surprise and bitter disappointment for the Union. The
outbreak of war had climaxed a disastrous policy of drift. The ignominy of Bull Run had
made the faint-hearted wonder if perhaps the reconquest of the South might not be beyond
the capacity of the Lincoln government. The Confederate States of America was seen to
emerge with an apparently stable and efﬁcient government, evidently well able to maintain
armies and wage war.”
“Yet the Union had made real progress.• First and most important, Lincoln had
demonstrated a determine to wage war to a ﬁnish, and in spite of spotty political
opposition, the people of the North rallied to his support with real patriotic intensity.
Second, a workable master plan had been hammered out.…”
Union Strategy

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Ibid.
“…hammered out.
“The grand strategy early decided on by Lincoln and his advisers entailed large scale
efforts by both army and naval forces: (1) The Army of the Potomac would simultaneously
cover Washington and threaten Richmond; (2) in the W, an effort would be made to secure
the line of the Mississippi, thereby splitting off the Southwest from the rest of the
Confederacy; (3) the border areas—MO, KY, Western VA, and MD—would be, if necessary,
occupied and held in the Union; (4) the Navy, which had already occupied Port Royal,
would continue amphib ops along the coast in support of its major mission of
blockading, and the strength the blockade would be improved; (5) foreign intervention
would be obviated by a judicious combination of show of force, diplomatic ingenuity, and
willingness to compromise.•
“The economic preponderance of the North was gradually mobilized in support of the
Union as it became increasingly obvious that a sustained war was going to be necessary. The
Civil War was the ﬁrst in history in which the steam engine, the railroad, and the
industrial process generally were to have a decisive role.…”
Union Strategy

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“…decisive role. It was the good fortune of
the North that in this vital area she was
overwhelmingly superior.
“In Nov 61 the talented but unstable •
George B. McClellan succeeded elderly,
ailing Winﬁeld Scott • in command of the
Army of the Potomac. Supremely
competent as a drillmaster, ‘Little Mac’
trained his soldiers to a new excellence in
the encampments around Washington.…”
Union Strategy
op. cit., pp. 262-263.

“…around Washington. Urged by Lincoln to press
directly S against the outnumbered Southern force
around Manassas, McClellan favored a grand
ﬂanking op against Richmond via the peninsula
between the York and the James rivers.
“This plan had the advantages of providing secure
lines of water-borne communication defended by
superior Union sea power.• Since the Union already
held the extreme lower peninsula—Newport News
and the area around Fortress Monroe—the troop
movement could be accomplished without enemy
harassment. The success of the earliest stages of the
op would incidentally insure the evacuation of the
Confederate forces around Norfolk. McClellan of
course hoped that the tempo of the advance would
produce major results before Gen Joseph E.
Johnston.…”
op. cit., pp. 262-263.

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“…uncovering Washington. This danger required splitting off a considerable force
(McDowell’s Corps) , to be held in northern VA. Second, McClellan was soon to reveal that
he lacked the sturdy and decisive personality to command an ‘all or nothing’ campaign.
Third, the element of secrecy, which was highly desirable if not absolutely essential to the
success of the op, was apparently unobtainable in those days [there are many interesting
accounts of Confederate spies in DC]. Richmond knew of his plans about as quickly as
McClellan’s own division commanders. Finally, the absolute control of the Potomac, York,
and lower James rivers, and of the Chesapeake Bay—on which McClellan’s lines of supply
and reinforcement depended—was seriously threatened at the very time the ﬁrst great
adventure of the Army of the Potomac was to begin.”
Union Strategy
op. cit., p. 263.

The Iconic Ships Another nail in the coffin of
wooden hulls

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Ibid.
“At Norfolk the scuttled Merrimac had been
raised by the Confederates and was being
converted into an ironclad. Should she prove
impervious to the ﬁre of the wooden blockaders,
the essential precondition of Northern naval
supremacy in the lower Chesapeake and VA rivers
would be destroyed. Equally disastrous, the
blockade would be ruptured.
“Stephen R. Mallory,• Confederate SecNav, had
been chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee of
the US Senate….”
The Ironclad Virginia

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Ibid.
“…US Senate. He brought to his job an intelligent awareness of the impending technological
revolution in naval material. Two months before • Secretary Welles had diffidently
recommended an ‘Ironclad Board’ to the US Congress, Mallory had addressed the Chairman
of the Confederate Naval Affairs Committee thus:”
I regard the possession of an ironclad ship as a matter of the first necessity. Such a vessel at this time
could traverse the entire coast of the US, prevent all blockade, and encounter, with a fair prospect of
success, their entire navy. If, to cope with them upon the sea, we follow their example, and build
wooden ships, we shall have to construct several at one time, for one or two ships would fall an easy
prey to their comparatively numerous steam frigates. But inequality of numbers may be
compensated by invulnerability, and thus not only does economy, but naval success, dictate the
wisdom and expediency of fighting iron against wood without regard to first cost.1
______
1 Dated 8 May 61. Cited by William C. Church, The Life of John Ericsson, (NY, 1891) , I, 245.

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Ibid.
“Plans were speedily drafted on the general style of the new British ironclads. In early Jul
61, Mallory formally approved the project of raising the frigate Merrimac 2…”

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Ibid.
“Plans were speedily drafted on the general style of the new British ironclads. In early Jul
61, Mallory formally approved the project of raising the frigate Merrimac 2, repairing the hull
and engines, clearing away the burnt-out superstructure, and replacing it with an armored
casemate….”
______
2 The USS Merrimac had been commissioned in 1856—the first in a class of six steam frigates, then generally regarded as the finest of their
type in the world. She was 300 feet over-all, 250 feet on the keel, had a beam 51 feet, 4 inches, and drew 28 feet. Battle-loaded, she
displaced 4500 tons. She had two 600-horse-power engines of new design, four tubular boilers,• …

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Ibid.
“…armored casemate.
“Work was started at once. Only the lack of metalworking industries prevented the South
from securing thereby a prompt and possibly decisive advantage in the technological race.
There was at that time only one rolling mill • [the Tredegar Iron Works, founded in 1837,
by 1860 the third largest in the US. Located in Richmond, VA]…”
______
2 The USS Merrimac had been commissioned in 1856—the first in a class of six steam frigates, then generally regarded as the finest of their
type in the world. She was 300 feet over-all, 250 feet on the keel, had a beam 51 feet, 4 inches, and drew 28 feet. Battle-loaded, she
displaced 4500 tons. She had two 600-horse-power engines of new design, four tubular boilers,• and a variable pitch screw. Like all such
vessels in her day, she was ship-rigged. She carried a battery of 40 Dahlgren guns : two ten-inch pivots; 14 eight-inch, and 24 nine-inch in
broadsides.

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Ibid.
“…Richmond, VA] in the Confederacy capable of turning out the two-inch iron slabs for
side armor. The only source of iron was used rails from the railroads.
“In spite of the best efforts of the engineers in charge, the work progressed slowly….”

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“…progressed slowly. All through the summer, fall, and winter of 1861, Northern spies brought
through the lines detailed accounts of its progress. These reports speeded the tardy
countermeasures of the Union Navy.
“In conversion, the Merrimac was cut down to the waterline, and provided with an armored
superstructure with sides sloping from the vertical about 35º. The deck length of this casemate
was 170 feet. The hull had only about two feet of freeboard forward, and rather less astern—
under way at her plodding four knots, she carried her after deck virtually awash.
“The casemate was framed with 20-inch pine beams overset with four-inch oak planks. The
armor was two layers of iron plates, the first bolted on horizontally, the second vertically. The
sloping sides of the casemate were to be smeared with tallow before the ship went into action, so
that solid shot would tend to ricochet harmlessly. The top of the casemate was protected by a
heavy iron grating, 120 feet by 20 feet, which would permit ventilation of the gun deck beneath.
“The Merrimac, recommissioned as the CSS Virginia, mounted three 9-inch Dahlgrens and two 6-
inch rifles in broadside, and had in addition two 7-inch rifled pivots. A heavy iron wedge was
affixed to her bow as a ram. A crank [hard to steer], unseaworthy craft, of awkward deep draft
for the shoal inland waters in which she was to operate, the Virginia was nevertheless an
ingenious adaptation of the materials at hand and a tribute to her builders’ skill at
improvisation….”
op. cit., pp. 263-264.

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“…at improvisation.
“When the vessel was nearly completed, Cdr
Franklin Buchanan,• an able former US naval officer,3
was designated to command her. Since the agrarian
South had no merchant marine, finding a crew of
trained seamen was more difficult. Eighty sailors
were discovered in a New Orleans regiment at
Yorktown. Seamen from Norfolk and inexperienced
army volunteers made up the rest of the crew of
about 350 men….”
op. cit., p. 264.
______
3 Buchanan, the first superintendent of USNA (1845-47) , was one of a
handful of outstanding naval leaders who resigned from the Union service in
order to serve the Confederacy.

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“…350 men.
“The Confederate authorities were actuated by a terrible sense of urgency, for espionage and
ill-advised revelations in the Northern press kept them informed not only of McClellan’s
invasion plan but also of the construction of the USS Monitor, a mysterious countermeasure to
the Virginia. If the Virginia could be gotten underway in time, the five wooden ships of the Union
navy blockading Norfolk and the lower Chesapeake could be smashed like matchwood, in spite
of their 222 guns. Interrupted transatlantic traffic would once more flow to Norfolk. The position
of the Union troops in Newport News and Fortress Monroe • would become untenable….”
op. cit., p. 264.

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Ibid.
“…become untenable. The threat of the ﬂanking op against Richmond would of course
evaporate. Well might the patriotically inspired workmen, laboring nightly to rush the Virginia to
completion, feel that on them depended the success of the Confederacy.
“The temperate Mallory in his orders to Buchanan revealed the magnitude of his hopes from
the Virginia :
The Virginia is a novelty in naval construction, is untried, and her powers unknown; and hence the department
will not give specific orders as to her attack on the enemy. Her powers as a ram are regarded as very formidable,
and it is hoped that you will be able to test them. Like the bayonet charge of the infantry, this mode of attack, while
the most destructive, will commend itself to you in the present scarcity of ammunition….
Could you pass Old Point [Comfort],..•

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Ibid.
Buchanan and his hastily assembled, untried crew were eager to fulﬁll the expectations of the
Secretary.”
______
4 Cited in John T. Scharf, History of the Confederate States Navy (New York, 1887) , 155.
Old Point [Comfort],• and make a dashing cruise in the Potomac as far as Washington, its effect upon the public
mind would be important to our cause.
The condition of our country, and the painful reverses we have just suffered, demand our utmost exertions; and
convinced as I am that the opportunity and the means of striking a decisive blow for our navy are now, for the first
time, presented, I congratulate you upon it, and know that your judgment and gallantry will meet all just
expectations….4

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“The USN was not quick to realize the danger created by the early Confederate
decision to build an ironclad or attempt to purchase one or more abroad. The
subject of ironclad construction, discussed in the Navy Department in May 61, was
tabled in the face of the more pressing problem of ﬁnding more wooden vessels to
implement the blockade. In early Jul the Secretary in a message to the extra session
of Congress requested authority to constitute an Ironclad Board and asked an
appropriation. On 3 Aug, Congress authorized the board and appropriated
$1,500,000 for the ‘construction or completing’5 of iron- or steel clad steamships or
steam batteries….”
The Ironclad Board
op. cit., pp. 264-265.
______
5 An obvious reference to the unfinished Stevens battery.

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“The USN was not quick to realize the danger created by the early Confederate decision to build
an ironclad or attempt to purchase one or more abroad. The subject of ironclad construction,
discussed in the Navy Department in May 61, was tabled in the face of the more pressing problem
of ﬁnding more wooden vessels to implement the blockade. In early Jul the Secretary in a message
to the extra session of Congress requested authority to constitute an Ironclad Board and asked an
appropriation. On 3 Aug, Congress authorized the board and appropriated $1,500,000 for the
‘construction or completing’5 of iron- or steel clad steamships or steam batteries….”
The Ironclad Board
op. cit., pp. 264-265.
______
5 An obvious reference to the unfinished Stevens battery.

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“…steam batteries.
“The Ironclad Board selected by Welles • and Fox was composed of three able and
distinguished ofﬁcers—Commodore Joseph Smith,• Commodore Hiram Paulding,• and
Cdr Charles H. Davis….”
The Ironclad Board
op. cit., pp. 264-265.

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“…Charles H. Davis. None of them however
possessed much background or experience in
scientific innovation. The board itself was
mindful of its technical limitations, and in its
report officially deplored the fact that, though
they had requested a qualified naval
constructor as a consultant, ‘they [were] all so
employed on important service that none could be
assigned to this duty.’
“Nevertheless the board reviewed more than
a hundred ironclad proposals submitted to the
department and prepared a detailed and
precise report submitted Sept 61….”
The Ironclad Board
op. cit., pp. 264-265.

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“…Sept 61. In summary, this important document, which established ironclad policy in
the USN for the Civil War period and for some time thereafter, stated :
“These contracts were undertaken with comparatively little delay, and three vessels
were duly produced. The New Ironsides (Merrick and Sons) , a broadside type of ironclad,
was to do good service at Charleston….”
The Ironclad Board
op. cit., p. 265.
(1) Armored ocean-going cruisers are for the time being impractical.
(2) For coast defense and operation in sheltered waters—harbors, bays and rivers—armored
gunboats of relatively shallow draft are feasible; such vessels should be constructed at
once.
(3) Armored vessels of this type cannot successfully cope with masonry forts.
(4) Wooden vessels will always be faster than ironclads, of whatever description.
(5) At the current stage of technological development, smooth-bore cannon firing spherical
shot are superior to rifled ordnance and shell.
(6) Though the US could doubtless get armored vessels more cheaply and more
expeditiously by purchase in England, it would be better policy to build them at home.
(7) Three contracts for armored vessels are recommended—with the firms of Merrick and
Sons and C.S. Bushnell and Co., and with John Ericsson.

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Ibid.
‘…at Charleston. The Galena (Bushnell) was a rather lightly armored gunboat that was
mercilessly pounded at Drewry’s Bluff and was regarded as a failure.…”
The Ironclad Board

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Ibid.
‘…a failure. By far the greatest historical interest centers in the Monitor (Ericsson). She was the
union ironclad first in naval action, by her arrival Hampton Roads she frustrated the
Confederate counterstrategy, she was the first of a succession of ‘Monitors’ in the USN, and
she was the most influential American innovation in naval design in the 19th century.”
The Ironclad Board

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Ibid.
“John Ericsson, Swedish-born builder of the Monitor, was by 1861 already an
internationally famous inventor and engineer.• Justly chagrined at the parsimony of the
US Congress after the building of the Princeton, Ericsson had left Washington with the
resolve never to return….”
The Monitor—A Study
in Innovation

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Ibid.
“…to return.
“But the Civil War touched both his patriotic enthusiasm and his professional instincts;
it was easy for his friend Bushnell to persuade him to offer his original project for an
armored battery, and to explain to the less agile minds in the Navy Department just why it
would work.
“In mid-Sept 61 Welles promised him a contract, and Ericsson began work at once. In
101 working days the Monitor was aﬂoat—perhaps the most original design in the history
of naval architecture. The plan and supervision of the entire project were Ericsson’s
contribution….”
in Innovation

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“…Ericsson’s contribution. The hull, the turret, and the engines and other machinery were
contracted to various ﬁrms in the New York area.
“The building of the Monitor was a remarkable tour de force. There was never any
comprehensive complete design or scale model. Yet Ericsson prepared well over a
hundred detailed drawings to guide the workmen. Nearly everything about the ship was
radically new and untried. The ﬁrst engineer of the Monitor estimated that the ship
contained at least 40 patentable innovations.
“The major distinctive features of this new instrument of warfare were these : she was
designed to have very little reserve buoyancy, so that she offered only a foot or so of
freeboard [distance between the top of the hull and the waterline]—and consequently a
very small target area; her battery was concentrated in two guns of largest size, mounted
side-by-side in a heavily armored turret; all exposed vertical surfaces were heavily
armored; the deck was plated also, and an overhang protected the screw and rudder; all
nonessential top-hamper was dispensed with….”
in Innovation
op. cit., pp. 265-266.

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“…dispensed with. Such a vessel, Ericsson reasoned, would offer a minimum and
impregnable target to the enemy, while packing tremendous offensive strength on a
moderate draft and displacement.
“The ﬁnished Monitor was a hull 124 feet long, on which was riveted a raft-like deck 172
feet by 41½ feet, the vertical sides of which carried 4½-inch iron armor backed by oak. This
deck was protected from plunging ﬁre by one-inch armor on its horizontal surface. The 9-
foot-high turret, 20 feet in diameter, was set on a brass ring laid into the deck. Eight layers
of one-inch rolled iron plates made up the laminated sidewalls of the cylindrical turret.
The turret cover was a grating of railroad rails. The 140-ton turret rested on a spindle
which extended down to the keel….”
in Innovation
op. cit., p. 266.

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“…the keel. This spindle was cogged to a steam auxiliary engine that could turn the turret
through a complete 360º revolution.
“The battery consisted of two 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbores….”
in Innovation
op. cit., p. 266.

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“…Dahlgren smoothbores. When their muzzles were inboard of the ports (as for cleaning
and loading) , the ports were automatically shielded by heavy iron ‘port stoppers’ that
swung over like pendulums. It was Ericsson’s opinion that the turret should be revolved
to bring the enemy under ﬁre only an instant before actual ﬁring, so that the exposure of
the gun crews in opening the ports would be kept to a minimum.
“The engine was of the then conventional double-trunk type, with its 36-inch cylinders
bored in a single casing. There were two return-tube box boilers.…”
in Innovation
Ibid.

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“…box boilers. The Monitor’s
ﬁrst commanding ofﬁcer was Lt
John L. Worden USN—a brave
man and a beloved leader,
though rather lacking in the
technical background this novel
type of ship was to demand. The
Monitor was commissioned on 25
Feb 62 and after a brief testing
was ordered to Hampton
Roads.”
in Innovation
Ibid.

The Battle The World was watching.

A Composite Diagram of the
Area Where the Battle is Fought

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Ibid.
“In early Mar the fortunes of the North and the South appeared to be hanging in unstable
balance. McClellan believed that in the Army of the Potomac he had at last the well-oiled
ﬁghting machine needed to win the war in a single crushing campaign. His carefully
worked out plan for advancing up the peninsula appeared almost foolproof. The inferior
Confederate armies would be pinned to their positions by the necessity of defending
Richmond to the last. Only the latent threat of the Virginia in the Elizabeth River •
clouded the rosy expectations of the Union commander….”
The Battle of Hampton Roads

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Ibid.
“…Union commander. If in fact the Confederate ram could impair the absolute sea
control of the Union Navy, the transports could not venture into Hampton Roads, and
McClellan’s whole strategy would have to be modiﬁed or abandoned.
“The events of 8 and 9 Mar in Hampton Roads constitute one of those rare ‘set pieces’ of
history—not only in the dramatic reversal occasioned by the Monitor, but in that they
occurred in a kind of natural naval amphitheater….”

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Ibid.
“…naval amphitheater. The anchorage is essentially the lower James River, here
broadened to six miles in width before its conﬂuence with the Chesapeake Bay. The N
shore was held by Union forces:• Fortress Monroe on Old Point Comfort, and Newport
News Point to the W, where newly emplaced batteries covered the approach to the James
River proper….”
UNION

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“…River proper. The Confederates held the entire S bank:• they had heavily fortiﬁed
Sewell’s Point,• six miles almost due S of Fortress Monroe, and they had less formidable
works at Pig Point to the W.• So restricted were the dimensions of the battleground that
thousands on both sides—Union troops and a good part of the population of Norfolk—
were able to witness the events related below….”
op. cit., pp. 266-267.

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“…related below.
“Flag Ofﬁcer Louis M. Goldsborough,•
commanding the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron, had concentrated in Hampton Roads
what by earlier standards was a formidable
blockading force—the 50-gun screw frigates
Minnesota and Roanoke (sister ships of the original
Merrimac) , the sailing frigates St Lawrence and
Congress, both 44s, and the sailing sloop
Cumberland, 24. Goldsborough correctly assumed
that when the Virginia was ﬁrst brought into action
she would head for the Congress and the
Cumberland, which were anchored farthest to the
W, blockading the James….”
op. cit., pp. 266-267.

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“…the James. Goldsborough’s plan was to run down the Confederate ram with the
Minnesota (flagship) and any other large steam vessels that might happen to be in the
anchorage. His aim was, above all, to prevent the Virginia’s retreat back up the Elizabeth
River. The plan involved an underestimation of the defensive strength of the Virginia; it
also took too little account of the shoalness of the water, which seriously restricted rapid
movement by any of his deep draft vessels.•
“On 8 Mar Flag Officer Buchanan took his new command out from the Navy Yard into
Hampton Roads. Her officers and crew were still strangers to each other. Workmen were
still putting on the finishing touches as the Virginia was warped by armed tugs down the
Elizabeth River. There were no engine run-ups and no gunnery drills. This, her trial cruise,
was to be directly into action. Cheers went up from the crowds on the wharves and
rooftops of Norfolk.
“The deficiencies of the hybrid vessel became apparent as she steamed into deeper water
by Sewell’s Point. In calm water, her engines could manage at best a sluggish five
knots….”
op. cit., p. 267.

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Ibid.
“…ﬁve knots. She answered her helm so
reluctantly that it took more than a half hour
to turn her completely around.
“Some small converted gunboats
constituting the Confederate ‘James River
Squadron’ were blockaded up the river at
Newport News by the Congress and
Cumberland,• which lay at anchor at the
northwestern extremity of Hampton Roads.
Buchanan therefore turned ﬁrst on these
latter ships, intending by his attack on them
to enable the Confederate gunboats to enter
the anchorage.
“The Virginia chugged ponderously NW
toward her adversaries.• The Union vessels
had hardly expected action that day….”

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“…that day. The CO of the Cumberland was
absent at a board of inquiry in the Roanoke,
and on both the Congress and Cumberland
boats were at the booms, and laundry was
drying in the lower rigging. The ships were
hastily cleared for action, and when the
Virginia passed at about 1,500 yards range,
she and the Congress exchanged broadsides.•
The heavy shells from the Virginia’s guns
crashed through the oak planking of the
Congress, whereas the hail of solid shot from
the port battery of the Union vessel bounced
and ricocheted harmlessly from the greasy
sloping sides of the Virginia. The ram
continued onward toward the Cumberland,
anchored farther to the W. With maximum
way on , the Virginia crashed her ram into the
Cumberland’s starboard bow,….”
op. cit., pp. 267-268.

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“…starboard bow, crushing the wooden hull
like an eggshell. At the moment of impact she
fired her bow pivot into the stricken vessel
killing ten men.• The Cumberland settled so
rapidly that the Virginia barely escaped being
dragged down with her victim, but the ram
structure broke off as the ironclad backed
clear. The Virginia, still under heavy fire from
the sinking vessel, slowly circled under her
stern ports and raked her at 200 yards with a
broadside that harvested a long windrow of
dead and mangled on the decks of the
wooden ship. The devotion and courage of
the officers and crew of the Cumberland in
continuing the hopeless fight is a splendid
example of what the Old Navy meant by ‘iron
men in wooden ships.’….”
op. cit., p. 268.

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Ibid.
“…wooden ships.’ With a third of her crew
dead or wounded, with water surging into a
hole in her side big enough to drive a horse
and cart through, the Cumberland kept firing
with every gun that would bear. As she sank,
deck by deck, the gun crews simply joined
the depleted crews on the deck above, until at
length the magazines were flooded out and
the vessel careened crazily to port. The last
remaining gun crew fired its final shot and
leaped into the water….”

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Ibid.
“…the water. Coming to rest on the shallow
bottom, the Cumberland still had her
mastheads above the water, and the flag of
the sunken vessel still fluttered at her peak.
Meanwhile the Virginia, which had suffered
only superficial topside damage and two
casualties, turned her attention to the
Congress….”

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Ibid.
“…the Congress. That ship, her officers realizing the invulnerability of the Virginia to their
guns, had gotten under way with jib and topsails, and with the aid of a tug was run in near
Signal Point to get the support of the land batteries. The Congress grounded in the shallows
where the Virginia with her great draft could not follow to ram. During this movement the
Congress was attacked by the Virginia’s tiny consorts, the armed tugs Beaufort and Raleigh,
each of which carried one heavy rifled gun. These unarmored vessels were careful however
to keep out of the way of the Congress’s broadsides.
“The Virginia was with some difficulty turned around in the shallows off the Union
batteries on the lower James, which dueled the ship without much effect. But finally the
ironclad lumbered down to a raking position off the stern of the Congress and at 150 yards
threw shell after shell into the doomed vessel. These were devastating in their explosive
effect; they also set her on fire. The acting commanding officer was killed. When his
successor saw his ship a flaming slaughterhouse, with not a single gun that could be brought
to bear, he ordered the colors struck.
“The Confederates attempted to accept the surrender and take prisoners….”

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“…take prisoners. But a regiment of troops ashore who had waded out in the shallow water
kept up a galling musketry barrage, supported by artillery, which killed and wounded
several of the Confederate boat party. Buchanan in a rage ordered the Congress bombarded
with red hot shot. Climbing topside to observe this op, he was drilled in the leg by a Minie •
ball from an infantryman’s riﬂe….”
op. cit., pp. 268-269.

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“…infantryman’s rifle. Lt Catesby ap Roger Jones
• thereupon succeeded to the command of the
Virginia.
“During the two hours while the Virginia was
destroying the Cumberland and the Congress, the
James River squadron joined the Virginia and her
diminutive escorts. The Minnesota, the Roanoke,
and the St. Lawrence all had attempted to come to
the aid of the stricken Union vessels. All had
grounded before coming into effective range—the
Minnesota so firmly that she was not successfully
floated for four tides….”
op. cit., pp. 268-269.

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“…four tides.
The Virginia, accompanied by the Patrick Henry and the Jamestown of the James River
squadron, now turned their attention to the helpless Minnesota. The shoalness of the water
however prevented a near approach by the Virginia, and her marksmanship at 2,000 yards
was such that only one shell struck its target at this time. The riﬂed guns of the smaller
Southern gunboats did much more damage, but the single gun that the Minnesota was able to
bring to bear ﬁnally drove them off….”
op. cit., pp. 268-269.

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“…them off. After about three hours of trying to approach nearer the Minnesota, the Virginia
and her consorts steamed triumphantly back in the gathering dusk to an anchorage under
Sewell’s Point.
“In a single afternoon the Confederate ram had sunk a heavy frigate and a large sloop of
war and had damaged another Northern vessel. Two hundred and ﬁfty Union sailors had
been killed or drowned. Including injuries to the boarding party, the Virginia and her
consorts had 21 killed and wounded. The Patrick Henry had four men scalded to death when
her boiler was struck by a ball from the Newport News batteries.
“Except for the loss of her ram, which occasioned a bad leak forward, the Virginia had
suffered only superﬁcial damage. The muzzles of two of her guns were smashed, and the top
hamper was riddled and partly shot away. But her armor was not penetrated at any point,
and she was ready for action on the following day.
“Yet it was not so much in her accomplishments that the Confederates exulted. It was
rather in the illimitable opportunities that seemed to be opening up. There appeared to be no
reason why the Minnesota, the Roanoke, the St. Lawrence, and the host of little Union gunboats
which remained in Hampton Roads could not be readily destroyed or driven away….”
op. cit., p. 269.

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Ibid.
“…driven away. The blockade would be broken. McClellan’s planned flank attack on
Richmond had become impossible. Foreign intervention was now, so it seemed, infinitely
more likely. All the fondest hopes • of Secretary Mallory appeared fully justified by the
invulnerable Virginia. Bonfires of celebration were lighted all over the South as the telegraph
speed word of the victory.•
“Yet even while the Virginia was wreaking havoc in the Union squadron off Norfolk, •
Ericsson’s strange-looking little Monitor • was laboring down the coast to get to the scene of
the battle. Towed by a tug, and convoyed by two wooden steamers, she had left New York
after perfunctory trials on 6 Mar. About noon on the 7th she ran into rough weather off the
DL capes. Waves surged over the vessel flooded through the badly stoppered hawse-pipes
into the hull and down the stack and blower pipe. With the blowers disabled, engine spaces
filled with gassesThe engineering force narrowly escaped asphyxiation : they were dragged
topside unconscious to revive on the turret top….”
Arrival of the Monitor

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Ibid.
“…turret top. With all machinery inoperative, the water in the bilges was serious worry
to • Lt Worden; an awkwardly long bucket brigade attempted to maintain the vessel’s small
positive buoyancy. Toward evening the weather and sea improved, making it possible to
start the engines again. But in the early morning of the 8th, the blowers were again ﬂooded
out. To render the volunteer crew even more miserable, the wheel-ropes jammed, so that the
safety of the ship depended entirely on the manila hawser connecting her to the tug. This
nightmarish voyage concluded about 1600 on 8 Mar, when the Monitor rounded Cape
Charles and started up the bay toward Hampton Roads, whence could be heard the sound of
cannonading.
“To a large extent the seagoing deﬁciencies of the Monitor stemmed from small, easily
corrected defects of workmanship, and from the inexperience of her personnel. The voyage is
an eloquent reminder of the need for careful and detailed trials for which there was no time
with the Monitor.
“Worden cleared his ship for action as he conned her up to Old Point Comfort….”

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“…Point Comfort. About 2100 he reported to Capt John Marston [SOPA, no picture on Wiki]
in the Roanoke. Marston ordered the Monitor to protect the grounded Minnesota.
“Her way was lighted by the flaming Congress, whose magazines finally exploded a little
after midnight. The Monitor anchored just W of the Minnesota, and her exhausted crew
attempted to get some sleep.• Efforts continued all night to get the Minnesota afloat, but in
vain.
“About 0630 on 9 Mar the morning fog had thinned just enough for the seamen in the
Union vessels to see the exhaust steam of the Virginia as she came out of her anchorage under
Sewell’s Point.• An hour or so later the sun appeared. By now the huge black ram had come
S of the Middle Ground,• and fired a shell into the rigging of the Minnesota. It was evident
that she intended to turn into the channel N of the Middle Ground shoal. The Minnesota fired
ineffectually with her stern guns.•
“Worden upped anchor and steamed around the Minnesota to approach the ram directly
and engage her as far as possible from the nearly helpless frigate….”
op. cit., pp. 269-270.

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“…helpless frigate. Although the Confederates at first took her to be a mere floating buoy, or
a ‘cheese box on a raft,’ the Monitor was nevertheless soon recognized by Jones and his officers
as the radically designed Union ironclad of which they had read in the Norfolk papers.
“The Virginia opened fire with a rifled gun, and missed. Conserving her fire to point blank
range, the Monitor swung her turret to bear at the moment she came alongside and rattled
the frames of her adversary wit two 11-inch shot, which struck the sloping casemate without
penetrating….” op. cit., p. 270.

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“…without penetrating. The Virginia turned to starboard sufﬁciently to bring her three-gun
broadside to bear, and ﬁred again, this time striking the Monitor’s turret. The Confederate
gunners were chagrined to see their heavy shell break up like ripe melons against the
Monitor’s plates, without discernibly denting them.
“There ensued a two-hour gunnery duel very close range.• Like a terrier baiting a bull, the
Monitor kept close to her larger adversary, so that the Virginia could sometimes hardly bring a
gun to bear. The Virginia was working badly, and in any event her 23-foot draft made her
awkward to maneuver in the shallow waters of the Roads….”
op. cit., p. 270.

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Ibid.
“…the Roads. The Monitor was operating as Ericsson had dreamed, and her mere 12-foot
draft gave her much more working room. It was Worden’s hope that by repeated hits at
pistol shot range to batter the Virginia’s plates loose if he could not penetrate her armor.
Blinding clouds of steam and black powder smoke enveloped the vessels most of the time
during this duel at 40 yards or less.
“Realizing the futility of trying to penetrate the armor of the Monitor, Jones determined to
ram his opponent or to board her.After an hour of discouraging maneuvering with this end
in view, Jones thought he saw his opportunity and ordered ‘Full speed ahead!’ But as the
Virginia lumbered down upon her, the Monitor turned nimbly so that the blow was a glancing
one, damaging the Monitor not at all, and springing another leak in the Virginia’s own bow.
The far greater maneuverability of the Monitor made boarding similarly infeasible. The
Union vessel was virtually able to pick and hold any position relative to the Virginia that her
CO wished.
“Resolved at any rate to destroy the Minnesota, Jones turned suddenly away from the
Monitor and attacked the wooden frigate with his riﬂed bow gun….”

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Ibid.
“…bow gun. The Minnesota sought to defend herself with her broadside and her 10-inch
pivot. This exchange had the expected result. The Virginia was apparently undamaged, and
the battered Minnesota was set on ﬁre. A tug that had been futilely trying to pull the
Minnesota off the bar was destroyed by a shell through her boiler.
“As quickly as possible, Worden brought the Monitor between the Minnesota and the enemy.
In maneuvering for position, the Virginia now grounded. Both the Minnesota and the Monitor
pounded their immobile adversary, and at this moment it seemed safe to predict the ram’s
destruction. But now occurred one of those chance events that so often upset the odds in
battle. While the Monitor was standing in at 10 or 15 yards to try to deliver a coup de grâce,
the Virginia’s ofﬁcers shifted their point of aim from the invulnerable turret of the Monitor to
the tiny pilot house on the foredeck.…”

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Ibid.
“…bow gun. The Minnesota sought to defend herself with her broadside and her 10-inch
pivot. This exchange had the expected result. The Virginia was apparently undamaged, and
the battered Minnesota was set on fire. A tug that had been futilely trying to pull the
Minnesota off the bar was destroyed by a shell through her boiler.
“As quickly as possible, Worden brought the Monitor between the Minnesota and the enemy.
In maneuvering for position, the Virginia now grounded. Both the Minnesota and the Monitor
pounded their immobile adversary, and at this moment it seemed safe to predict the ram’s
destruction. But now occurred one of those chance events that so often upset the odds in
battle. While the Monitor was standing in at 10 or 15 yards to try to deliver a coup de grâce,
the Virginia’s officers shifted their point of aim from the invulnerable turret of the Monitor to
the tiny pilot house on the foredeck. The pilot house, projecting only four feet above the
deck, was made of 9-by-12-inch cast iron bars with a narrow eyelet under the topmost bar.
Inside were the stations of the conning officer, the pilot, and the helmsman.
“About 1130 a lucky shell from the Virginia exploded against the front of the pilot house,…”

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“…pilot house, and drove powder fragments through the eye slit into Lt Worden’s eyes—
blinding him temporarily and wounding him seriously about the face. Worden sent for his
XO, Lt Samuel D. Greene, who was in the turret, but Greene did not assume the con of the
ship for about 20 minutes. During this time the helmsman followed Worden’s last order,
which was to ‘sheer off.’ The effect was that the Monitor withdrew to the E toward Fortress
Monroe.
“The Virginia proﬁted from this withdrawal to put out boats with kedges [from?] , by
means of which she was successfully warped off the bottom. Seeing his iron protector
apparently in retreat, the CO of the Minnesota grimly made preparations to blow up his
vessel rather than allow her capture by the Virginia.
“But the position of the ram herself was far from comfortable. Her leak forward had been
made worse by the grounding. Furthermore her bow was so lightened by the loss of her
prow and anchors that the water inside her greatly increased her draft at the stern, whereas
her bow tended to ride up so that her shield was almost out of water. When her pilots
reminded Lt Jones that the tide was falling, he decided that the risk of remaining on the scene
was not justiﬁed by the slight advantage to be gained by destroying the battered
Minnesota….”
op. cit., pp. 270-271.

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“…battered Minnesota. The Virginia, leaking badly, her top-hamper utterly shot away,
chugged slowly back to her Sewell’s Point anchorage. The fight had lasted more than four
hours.•
“Meanwhile Lt Greene, having at last taken the con, wheeled the Monitor about and came
back to the Minnesota. He threw two or three long-range shots at the departing Virginia but
made no further attempt to pursue. Thus indecisively ended the most celebrated single-ship
duel ever engaged in by American vessels.
“Damage to the Monitor was slight, and entirely confined to the pilot house. The Virginia,
though no shot had penetrated her casemate, was struck by nearly all the 41 solid shot that
the Monitor fired at her; these cracked her plates, and in some instances fractured the wooden
backing. Damage to her superstructure and hull required extensive repairs in drydock.”
op. cit., p. 271.

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Ibid.
“The usual conclusion of historians is that the battle was a tactical draw but a strategic
victory for the Monitor. Yet the thoughtful student is left with certain tantalizing questions
that can be answered only with careful reservations : Why was the engagement so
indecisive? Why did the Monitor fail to pursue her adversary toward Norfolk? Why was
the duel never renewed? How could the evident structural superiority of the Monitor have
been made the basis of the complete victory which Ericsson had a right to expect from his
invention?
“A partial answer to several of these questions can be summarized as inadequate testing
of material, and inadequate training of personnel. This in turn stemmed not so much from
oversight or carelessness as from the precipitate need of the Monitor in Hampton Roads as
the single adequate weapon to cope with the Virginia.
“The new 11-inch battery of the Monitor was restricted by BuOrd order to 15-pound
charges. Yet later experience was to make 25- and even 30-pound charges common. On
seeing their shot fail to penetrate the Virginia’s casemate, Worden and Greene must have been
sorely tempted to increase their charges.…”
Aftermath of the Battle

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Ibid.
“…their charges. Yet with two guns mounted side by side, to burst a barrel would have been
to have destroyed completely the offensive power of the ship. To disobey a categorical order
and thereby to risk the destruction of an unfamiliar engine of war entrusted to them is surely
too much to expect of junior ofﬁcers.7 There can however be no question that the Monitor
would have destroyed her antagonist if she had used sufﬁcient powder charges.…”
______
7 The celebrated explosion of the Peacemaker aboard the Princeton was a fresh enough memory in the minds of naval officers
to insure double respect for bureau restrictions against overcharging.

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Ibid.
“…powder charges.
“The officers and crew of the Monitor, as the above account indicates, began the fight nearly
exhausted from the harrowing voyage down the coast. This may explain why Greene did not
see fit to pursue the Virginia under the guns of the Confederate shore batteries. Asst. SecNav
Fox, who was at the scene of the engagement in a tug, apparently was not altogether satisfied
with Greene’s performance however: he immediately relieved him of the temporary
command of the Monitor.
“Washington was still jittery over the threat of the Virginia, and on 10 Mar Gideon Welles,
either on his own initiative or on the advice of the President, issued peremptory orders that
the Monitor was not to be taken under the fire of the shore batteries.…”

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“…shore batteries. Too much depended on her
continuing to exercise control of the Roads to
risk her injury or destruction.• The grand
strategic offensive of McClellan’s army could
best be served by a tactically defensive objective
on the part of the Navy.
“The Virginia was badly enough damaged to
require much repair work. In addition, her
ofﬁcers realized she was no match for the
Monitor. Nevertheless, • Josiah Tatnall, her new
CO, took her out into the Roads on 11 Apr, 8
May, and 9 May. The Confederate command had
worked out a scheme by which the Monitor
would be boarded by crews of the wooden
gunboats while the Virginia kept her closely
engaged.…”
op. cit., pp. 271-272.

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“…closely engaged. This desperate plan was frustrated by the arrival of substantial
reinforcements to the Union blockading force, including the ironclads Galena and Naugatuck.
Goldsborough had moreover acquired a large fast vessel, the Vanderbilt, which was to be
used as a ram against the Virginia, if she could be enticed out into deep water. Both sides
exercised caution in their use of their strongest naval weapons, since the risk of loss of either
the Virginia or the Monitor seemed to outweigh the advantage of destroying her adversary.
The arrival of the Monitor had made McClellan’s Peninsula campaign possible after all;
her loss would seriously hamper his ops. On the other hand, the Confederate government
deemed Norfolk safe as long as the Virginia stood at its water gates.…”
op. cit., pp. 271-272.

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“…water gates. The ram was a one ship ﬂeet-in-being..…”
op. cit., p. 272.

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“…water gates. The ram was a one ship ﬂeet-in-being.
“By 5 Apr some 121,500 blue-coated soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, with all their
equipment [“…44 artillery batteries, 1,150 wagons, over 15,000 horses, and tons of equipment and supplies. An English
observer remarked that it was the "stride of a giant.”—Wikipedia] , had been landed on the Peninsula. In spite of
overwhelming superiority, McClellan dallied before the thinly held Confederate line
anchored on Yorktown until Johnston •.…”
op. cit., p. 272.

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“…water gates. The ram was a one ship ﬂeet-in-being.•
anchored on Yorktown until Johnston • quietly abandoned it on the night of 3 May.• Pursuit
brought on a partial and indecisive engagement near Williamsburg on 5 May, after which the
Confederates continued their withdrawal unmolested.…”
op. cit., p. 272.

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“…water gates. The ram was a one ship ﬂeet-in-being.•
anchored on Yorktown until Johnston • quietly abandoned it on the night of 3 May.• Pursuit
brought on a partial and indecisive engagement near Williamsburg on 5 May, after which the
Confederates continued their withdrawal unmolested.• The effect however was to leave the
whole lower peninsula from the York to the James River, up to the line of the Chickahominy,
in Union hands, and to open the James River to Union gunboats. Norfolk and Portsmouth
were now between two Union forces—the Army of the Potomac and Burnside’s command,
which was advancing N from NC. Finding their position no longer tenable, the Confederate
forces on 10 May reluctantly abandoned the Norfolk area with its invaluable Navy Yard.
Almost at once Union troops from Fortress Monroe moved in.
“An effort was made to lighten the Virginia enough to take her up the James River to
Drewry’s Bluff, but the scheme had to be given up as impracticable.…”
op. cit., p. 272.

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Ibid.
“…as impracticable. On the
other hand, her general lack of
seaworthiness and her
undependable engines made it
impossible for her to try to
ﬁght her way out into the bay
and to the open ocean.
Regretfully, Cdr Tatnall
ordered her blown up.
“The crew of the Virginia,
together with those of the
Patrick Henry and the smaller
gunboats, manned the
Confederate batteries at
Drewry’s Bluff, where they
were to stop the Union
gunboats in their efforts to
ﬁght their way up the James to
Richmond….”

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Ibid.
“…to Richmond. After a number of severe
battles (Seven Pines, Seven Days’, Gaines’
Mill), McClellan’s force, though its farthest
advance reached almost to the suburbs of
Richmond, was withdrawn. McClellan, the
magniﬁcent drillmaster, had created an
unconquerable army. But he had
demonstrated all too clearly that he lacked
the perseverance and moral courage that his
army deserved in its commander. The
Federal occupation of Norfolk was the only
permanent harvest of the campaign….”

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Ibid.
“…the campaign.
“Later in the year the Monitor foundered in a gale off the Carolina capes, taking with her a
part of her crew.• In her brief life she had by stopping the Virginia not only averted a
serious threat to the blockade; she had also by her presence in Hampton Roads made
possible the Army’s offensive in the Peninsula….”

Other Ironclads The Hunley was the ﬁrst submarine to
succeed in sinking an enemy warship.
Here its eponymous inventor is seen
talking with a Confederate sentry.
Conrad Wise Chapman (1842-1910), Submarine Torpedo Boat H.L. Hunley, Dec. 6, 1863

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“…the Peninsula. And her design fathered a numerous class of improved models, which
were to perform notable service in the war. She was an important influence in ship design for
more than 40 years—both in the United States and abroad.
op. cit., pp. 272-273.
Other Ironclads
“The Confederates built a number of other ironclads, but none achieved the early success of
the Virginia, for the South never again had the initial advantage of surprise and novelty and,
in any event, lacked the means to profit by the technological lessons of the Virginia-Monitor
engagement.
“Early in 1863 two small ironclads (roughly of the Virginia model) sortied against the
wooden blockaders off Charleston and inflicted some injury….”

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“…some injury. But these were contained by superior Union ironclads which were sent
down for that purpose. Later the same year Savannah sent out the Atlanta,• an ironclad in
most respects more formidable than the Virginia. She was immediately engaged by the
monitor Weehawken,• which with just ﬁve shots compelled the Southern vessel to surrender.
Two solid shot from the monitor’s new 15-inch Dahlgren gun smashed through the four-inch
armor belt of the Atlanta and devastated the interior of the ship….”
op. cit., p. 273.
Other Ironclads

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“…the ship.
“Another Confederate ironclad, the
Albemarle, was the occasion of a dashing
exploit by a junior ofﬁcer. This vessel was
built in 1864 for service on the NC sounds,
with the object of interfering with the
blockade and Union amphib activity in the
area of Plymouth. Since no Union ironclads
could be spared immediately to cope with
her,• Lt William B Cushing USN volunteered
to destroy her at anchor with a spar torpedo
rigged to the bow of a launch….”
op. cit., p. 273.
Other Ironclads

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“…a launch. One night in late Oct 64, he went in with a picked crew and succeeded in
getting his boat under the counter of the ram just before he was discovered and ﬁred
upon. Cushing exploded his ‘torpedo’ successfully, blowing the bottom out of the
Albemarle, which immediately sank. The launch was also sunk by the explosion, but
Cushing and one of his men, who plunged into the chilly water, swam downstream to
safety. Two of Cushing’s men were killed; 19 were captured….”
op. cit., p. 273.
Other Ironclads

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Ibid.
“…were captured.
“The Union with its vastly superior industrial facilities maintained a considerable
ironclad building program throughout the war. Not only were improved ‘monitors’ built in
quantity, but broadside-type armored vessels were improvised out of any hulks on hand.
The fighting on the western rivers was to produce its own peculiar but efficient [and much
cheaper, i.e. $9,000 vs $200,000 on average!] shoal-draft iron-and ‘tin’-clads.”•
Other Ironclads
“The idea of destroying an enemy vessel of war by underwater explosives was by no means
wholly novel in the 1860s. Bushnell’s and Fulton’s experiments of a half century and more
earlier were remembered. Samuel Colt (of revolver fame) had conducted a series of successful
and widely publicized tests with electrically fired mines between 1842 and 1845. Public
opinion in both North and South however was at first revolted by what seemed a very
unsporting kind of warfare.…”
Mines and Submarines

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Ibid.
“…of warfare. Yet the magnitude of the South’s naval defense problem in protecting 3,000
miles of coastline made the Confederacy’s reluctant acceptance of ‘torpedoes’ (as stationary
mines were then called) almost inevitable.
“Matthew Fontaine Maury, who had resigned his USN commission to join his native VA in
the war, was the original moving spirit in this branch of naval innovation, and was the ﬁrst
chief of the Confederate States Naval Submarine Battery Service.…”

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Ibid.
“…Battery Service. The mines produced were of various sorts—all rather primitive in
design but often highly effective. The most common was the moored ‘keg torpedo,’a pitch-
lined beer barrel filled with black powder and triggered by contact fuses studded around its
body.• Other types were ‘frame torpedoes,’ which lay on the bottom, floating multi-unit ‘barrel
torpedoes’. and ‘pronged torpedoes’—variously fired either by fulminate caps on contact or by
shore-directed electrical impulse. For river and harbor defense, the electrical torpedoes
proved most successful, and over ten % of the South’s considerable mine production was of
this type.…”

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“…this type. Still more might proﬁtably have been used, but it was typical of the poverty of
the Confederacy’s industrial base that insulated copper wire was almost unprocurable in the
South at any price.
“To explode a lethal charge against an enemy vessel, the only device available was the
spar torpedo—the type used by Cushing • in sinking the Albemarle. To counter the torpedo
threat, the Union navy developed torpedo nets to shield anchorages, as at the siege of
Charleston in 1863-65. A crude mine sweep made of a raft festooned with chains and
grapnels was on occasion pushed ahead of a Union ironclad.
“In spite of failures through seepage into the powder charges and breaks in the insulation
of ﬁring cables, the Confederacy’s mine warfare was effective. Thirty-one Union vessels
were lost to mines—more than to any other cause. A well-founded fear of torpedoes made
Union commanders increasingly circumspect in approaching Confederate harbors and river
mouths, and in many instances hampered the planning of Union ops.
“In 1861 the idea of a submarine was certain to appeal to a negligible naval power
opposed to a considerable naval power. And in fact in the Confederacy there were a number
of efforts to devise a successful submersible or semi-submersible…”
op. cit., pp. 273-274.

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op. cit., p. 274.
“…or semi-submersible. The ﬁrst of a curious hybrid-type torpedo boat known as ‘Davids’
was built at New Orleans but never had an opportunity for combat trial. Others were built
for use against the Union blockading forces in the siege of Charleston. The David was a
steam-driven, cigar-shaped craft, 50 feet long and carrying a crew of four.…”

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op. cit., p. 274.
“…of four. She cruised wholly submerged except for her hatch and funnel. For offense she
carried a spar torpedo, • to be detonated by an impact fuse when rammed against the
underwater hull of a vessel.
“At sunset on 5 Oct 63, a David left Charleston with the objective of sinking the USN’s
powerful ironclad New Ironsides. After passing unobserved through the blockading ﬂeet, the
semi-submersible came alongside her intended victim about 2100. Here at last she was seen
and hailed, whereupon her CO replied with a shotgun blast that mortally wounded the
Ironside’s OOD, then drove his torpedo into the ship’s starboard quarter six feet below the
water line. The resulting blast threw up a column of water that extinguished the David’s
ﬁres. The 60-pound charge of the David’s torpedo proved too light to sink the thick-sided
Ironsides, but the concussion opened numerous leaks and did widespread internal damage,
requiring docking and extensive repairs.…”

14:
The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Ibid.
“…extensive repairs.
“This moderate success moved the Confederacy to
invest funds in a true submersible being developed
by a civilian,• Horace L. Hunley, and his associates at
Mobile.…”

14:
The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Ibid.
“…at Mobile. The submarine, named CSS Hunley, carried a crew of nine, eight of whom
‘manned the cranks’• to operate her propellor. She was 25 feet long and had foldable
compartments fore and aft for stability. Hauling her torpedo at the end of a line, she was
expected to dive under an enemy and surface on the other side just as the torpedo was
exploded by striking her victim’s underwater hull.…”

14:
The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Ibid.
“…underwater hull.
“At Mobile during trials, the Hunley stuck in the mud and drowned her entire crew.
Nevertheless, the need for a weapon to break the blockade of Charleston was so urgent that
the submarine was brought thither by rail. Here she sank out of control three more times,
drowning nearly every member of her crew each time.• Finally Gen Beauregard,
commanding the Confederate forces in the area, forbade her being operated submerged
again.
“In Feb 64 the Hunley, operating as a David, semi-submerged with a spar torpedo
projecting from her bow, made an attack on the new screw sloop Housatonic.…”

14:
The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Ibid.
“…sloop Housatonic. She was observed, but before the sloop could open ﬁre or get under
way, the Hunley had rammed her torpedo into the ship’s hull. The Hunley and the Housatonic
sank together. [Modern research differs].…”

14:
The New Technology:
Ironclads in Action
Ibid.
“…research differs]
“Three weeks later another of the Charleston Davids struck the US screw steamer
Memphis, a captured blockade runner, but the fuse had deteriorated and failed to detonate
the charge. In Apr 64, a David made repeated attempts to torpedo US screw frigate Wabash,
sister-ship of the Merrimac, but was defeated by heavy swells that almost flooded the tiny
craft.
“Most of the technological innovations attempted by the South were well conceived,
but the lack of enough trained engineers and, above all, the lack of an adequate
industrial base prevented much success. It was the misfortune of the South that it was
compelled to fight in the first modern war—a war in which economic war potential was as
important as personal bravery and skill in command.”

Three Navies: Green, Blue, and Brown
The American ironclads have revealed a future which the French Gloire and the British Warrior only
hinted at.
The iconic battle between the Virginia and the Monitor caught the attention of the world the way that
the Battle of Sinope had influenced professional naval observers.
It now remains to tell the tale of how our riverine or Brown Water Navy tightened the grip on the
Confederate heartland and separated it from its western sister states.
And much of this Western navy was built right here in Cincinnati as our east end shipyards in
Columbia and Tusculum turned from steamboats to gunboats.
On the Mississippi Vicksburg will be the tough nut to crack.
So that will require two other stories…
jbp

American Civil War Ironclads Clash in Historic 1862 Battle

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