![]() ![]() The crew tried using pumps and even bailing with buckets, but the distress was too great. Leaks developed, flooding the engines and reducing steam pressure needed for propulsion. With each pitch and roll, shock waves ravaged the crew and the hull of the little ship. All was well until New Year's Eve when they were off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. On December 29, 1862, she left Hampton Roads, along with the aid of a tug, the side-wheeler frigate USS Rhode Island. Photo: Courtesy Library of Congress The Monitor is No Moreįollowing the seizure of Norfolk by the Union forces, the strength and power of the Monitor and her now famous Ericsson turret was needed further south. Painting of USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Regardless of a decisive victor never dissolving in the match between the two ironclads, one outcome was distinctly clear: the era of the wooden warship was at an end and from that day forth, iron would forever rule the seas. Although the Monitor remained in Hampton Roads throughout the spring and summer of 1862, the two vessels never again met in battle. In reality, the battle was a virtual draw with neither vessel inflicting serious damage to the other. When the Monitor returned to resume the engagement and found the Virginia gone, her crew also assumed victory. The Virginia's captain, assuming the Monitor was withdrawing from battle, withdrew in supposed victory. The Monitor's Executive Officer, Samuel Dana Green, assumed command and ordered the Monitor into shallow water, where the Virginia could not follow, to assess the captain's wounds and damage to the ship. Almost four hours into the battle, a shot from the Virginia exploded against the Monitor's pilot house and Captain Worden was temporarily blinded. On March 9, 1862, the first time iron met iron, the two warships fired upon each other for hours, each side looking for their opponent's weaknesses. The next morning, CSS Virginia confidently prowled into the waters for more takings, but imagine the crew's surprise when they saw the unfamiliar outline of the Monitor in the distance. On March 8, 1862, the Virginia sailed into the harbor and engaged the Union fleet inflicting major damage before retiring for the day. The Confederate Navy had a stronghold on Norfolk, Va., and they had also constructed an ironclad, the CSS Virginia. ![]() The Union's biggest threat lived in Hampton Roads. Photo: Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum Battle of Hampton Roads Launching of USS Monitor from Greenpoint, N.Y. Almost 100 days later, on January 30, 1862, the USS Monitor was launched into the East River. Construction immediately began at the Continental Ironworks in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. Complete with a rotating gun turret, low draft, sleek profile and Ericsson's claim as an "Impregnable Battery," the board was convinced to order swift production on what would become the USS Monitor. John Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor, introduced a plan, which caught their attention. After discovering the Confederate Navy was constructing an impenetrable ironclad in Hampton Roads, Va., President Lincoln called for a naval board to propose construction of an ironclad vessel to lead the Union Navy. ![]() Photo: Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum Historical Background A Revolutionary Vesselĭuring the Civil War, the idea of the USS Monitor was born amidst a nation in turmoil. Significance: Union's first ironclad fought in the Battle of Hampton Roads became our nation's first national marine sanctuary U-boat lost off the U.S. Survivors: 46 of 62 survived (16 dead)ĭata Collected on Site: Still and video photography photomosaics site plan photogrammetric model listed on the National Register of Historic Places () listed as a National Historic Landmark () Length: 173 feet Breadth: 41 feet 6 inchesīuilt: 1862, John Ericsson at Continental Ironworks in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. ![]()
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