THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS
BY CAPTAIN MICHEAL DODD
The frigid March air blew in from the northwest and created innumerable whitecaps along the coastal waters of Maryland. The year was 1862. Captain John Worden had the duty of delivering the ironclad ship, the USS Monitor to the Chesapeake Bay. The Bay entrance was under blockade by the North since the early months of the ‘War between the States;’ otherwise known as the American Civil War. The Northern blockade was preventing delivery of important goods from Europe to the South. The South desperately wanted to break the blockade.
The South had developed a new weapon which they hoped would sink the US Navy ships involved in the blockade and change the course of the War. The new weapon was actually a former US Navy ship known as the Merrimac. At the outset of the war, the US Navy had abandoned and destroyed their ships docked in Newport, Virginia. But the South had salvaged the Merrimac and converted it into an ironclad vessel which they renamed the Virginia (for the remainder of this article we will use the name Merrimac ). The ship was 263 feet in length and bristled with fourteen cannons and a steel ramming rod which extended from the bow. Four-inch-thick iron plating covered the outside of the ship. It was designed to be indestructible and lethal.
The US Navy had learned the South was constructing an ironclad ship and decided they must construct an alternative ironclad to challenge the Merrimac. The result was the USS Monitor, which was designed by a Swedish engineer named John Ericsson, and built in Brooklyn, NY. The Monitor was a radical design for a naval vessel. Its flat deck was only slightly above the waterline. Mounted in the center of the deck was a large revolving iron turret. Inside were two large cannons which could fire in any direction by rotating the turret. The ship was 172 feet in length which made it more maneuverable than its opponent.
Hampton Roads is an expansive body of water at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay, the James River (leading to Richmond) and the Elizabeth River (leading south). Anchored on site were a number of wooden US Naval war ships participating in the blockade.
On March 8, 1862, one day before Captain Worden arrived with the Monitor, the Merrimac, commanded by Captain Franklin Buchanan, steamed out of port. Buchanan wasted no time and immediately rammed the northern warship, USS Cumberland. As the Cumberland listed with a mortal wound, she continued to fire shots at the impenetrable Merrimac, then sank. Other Northern ships fired on the Merrimac, but the cannon balls bounced off with no sign of injury. She appeared indestructible. Some Northern ships intentionally ran aground to avoid the likelihood of being sunk. The next victim was the USS Congress, which was sunk after being set on fire by red-hot cannon balls from the Merrimac. The final ship for attack this day was the USS Minnesota, which had run aground. But, because of low tide that afternoon, the Merrimac was not able to sail close enough to fire effectively. The Merrimac returned to port for reloading and repairs.
The day had been a remarkable victory for the South; two Northern ships sunk, and three aground. The North lost 250 sailors compared to the South with two sailors lost. This was the US Navy’s greatest loss until World War II. President Lincoln and his Cabinet were in a panic. But before sunrise on the morning of March 9, 1862, Captain Worden, at the helm of the Monitor, appeared on the scene. The Captain had orders to protect the grounded Minnesota.
Later that morning, the Merrimac sailed out to finish off the Minnesota, but was blocked by a strange new sight. One southerner described it as “a block of cheese on a raft.” In typical aggressive fashion, the Merrimac fired first. In return, the Monitor used its cannons for the first time and shot back. Thunderous booms echoed across the water. Balls clanked against the metal ships or bounced and skimmed across the surface. Puffs of smoke at times engulfed the vessels. The battle continued for several hours as troops on both sides of Hampton Roads watched in amazement. It was the first battle ever between two ironclad ships. In spite of multiple cannonball strikes to both ironclads, with some at very close range, neither vessel was sunk. In the end, the engagement was a draw. No other encounters between these ships occurred and both sides claimed victory.
Historically, this was the most significant naval conflict in the Chesapeake Bay. The battle changed naval warfare forever. Henceforth, wooden battleships would never again be effective weapons of war.
