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U.S. Civil War - The Naval Battle Between The Monitor And 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 (DesJardien 2)" 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...