World Navies Become Obsolete

The Battle of Ironclads in the Civil War Began a New Era in Warfare

Oct 2, 2009

The Civil War brought many technological advances, including the railroad and the telegraph. But the most lasting advance came in naval warfare.

At the outset of the Civil War, most analysts believed that the North had a decisive advantage in naval forces over the South. To counter this, the Confederacy set to work constructing a fleet of ships with armored plating. The first of these new iron vessels was the CSS Virginia.

The First Confederate Ironclad

The Virginia was built on the sunken hull of the USS Merrimac, which was captured when Union forces evacuated the naval yards at Norfolk, Virginia. The iron plating was fitted by engineers at Richmond’s Tredegar Iron Works. Although the Virginia was slow and clumsy, and was only fitted with 10 guns, its armored exterior automatically made it the most powerful vessel in the war.

When word of construction on the Virginia reached Washington, DC, Union officials scrambled to construct a ship that could match her. They turned to renowned engineer John Ericsson to develop a new vessel. Ericsson came up with the most unique design in naval history.

The First Union Ironclad

The new ship was a flat, raft-like structure with a round, iron turret in its center. The turret held only two 11-inch guns, but the turret revolved to give the guns greater mobility. President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles approved the construction plans despite protests that the ship could never be used. When completed the vessel was christened the USS Monitor, and she contained 47 patentable inventions.

As the Monitor was being completed, on March 8, 1862 the Virginia attacked a Union naval fleet stationed at Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Virginia virtually destroyed three warships:

Cannon fire from the ships and the Union batteries on the shore bounced harmlessly off the Virginia’s sides. As night fell, the Confederate ironclad withdrew with plans to finish off the Minnesota in the morning. With this impressive attack by a new iron vessel, an era of naval warfare that had begun in ancient times was over.

The Virginia’s success terrified the Lincoln administration. Many believed that the vessel would steam up the Potomac River and shell the Union capital into submission. Their only hope was for the Monitor to reach Hampton Roads in time.

The Monitor struggled to make it from New York to Virginia. Because she sat just 18 inches above the waterline, heavy waves swept over the deck and threatened to extinguish the boilers. Ventilators were blocked, filling the vessel with gas and making the crew sick. But the Monitor continued on, reaching Hampton Roads late on the night of March 8.

In the early morning of March 9, the Virginia steamed toward the Minnesota, but Virginia's crew was baffled to see the strange-looking Monitor guarding the Minnesota. Crowds on both sides of the harbor gathered to watch the ensuing battle between the ironclad vessels.

When the two ships opened fire on each other, all other wooden navies in the world became obsolete. The ships hammered each other with cannon fire at point-blank range, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage. They fought so close that they collided five times. Men were blinded by the smoke from the sizzling cannons as they kept loading and firing.

Finally after hours of fighting, the Virginia steamed off. She had been fighting for two consecutive days, her crew was exhausted and she was low on ammunition. While the immediate result of the first battle between ironclads was a draw, the long-term advantage went to the Monitor.

The Implication of Ironclad Warships

The Virginia’s inability to destroy the Monitor ensured that the Union blockade at Hampton Roads would remain intact. The Union also had more capital, supplies and men to build more ironclad ships. When the Confederates were forced out of Norfolk two months later, they destroyed the Virginia to prevent her capture. The Monitor later sunk off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The wreckage is a tourist attraction today.

Both North and South rushed to build more ironclad ships while Europe watched with nervous fascination. The navies of North America were now more powerful than any other in the world. Naval warfare was changed forever.

Sources

Davis, Kenneth C.: Don’t Know Much About the Civil War (New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1996)

Ward, Geoffrey C.; Burns, Ric; Burns, Ken: The Civil War (New York, NY: Alfred P. Knopf, Inc., 1990)

Crocker III, H.W.: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2008)

The copyright of the article World Navies Become Obsolete in US Civil War is owned by Walter Coffey. Permission to republish World Navies Become Obsolete in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.