The Battle of Hampton Roads: The Monitor Meets The Merrimack (CSS Virginia)

Civil War Daily Gazette ^ | March 9, 2012 | Eric

[fso301]

Monitor had massive gun port shutters.

Ok. Thanks. this actually cause a problem as they hadn't bothered to cut vision slits for the turret commander. So he eventually resorted to turning the turret away from the Virginia, opening the ports the rotating the turret and firing on the fly as the Virginia passed in front of the guns.

Thank you for that operating detail.

As for getting to Washington, I once argued that same view and my brother who lives on the Potomac near Point Lookout set be straight fast. She could only get over the bar at high tide. But that meant she has to almost immediately fight the current as the tide starts to run out. Remember CSS Virginia had a top speed of a whopping great three knots! When the tide is running the Potomac river at Point Lookout has a current of 2 knots. Where it joins the St. Mary's river the current is close to 3 knots. So the Virginia would have had to run at full speed to make 1 knot, and at some points would have been hard pressed not to go backwards. All the while presenting an essentially stationary target to Union guns on both shores. She would have run out of coal, ammo or her decrepit engines would have broken down long before she got to Washington DC.

It's always been a good day when I learned something new.