The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Monitor and The Merrimac - Mar. 9th, 2003

http://www.civilwar-va.com/virginia/va-tidewater/showdown.html ^ | John V. Quarstein, director, Virginia War Museum

[SAMWolf]

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Showdown at Hampton Roads

On March 9, 1862, Hampton Roads was the scene of a terrific engagement, which revolutionized naval warfare. The first battle between ironclad ships, often called the Monitor-Merrimack (Virginia) engagement, is perhaps the most significant naval event of the entire Civil War. This duel is an epic tale that tells how steam-powered iron ships rang the death knell for wooden vessels and echoed the dawn of modern navies.

When the Confederate batteries encircling Charleston Harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter during the early morning of April 12, 1861, the bombardment set in motion a naval race resulting in the first battle between ironclad ships. Little did the Confederates realize that soon their harbors would be blockaded by the Union fleet attempting to sever the vital link between the agrarian South and industrialized European nations. The question in the spring of 1861 was how could the Confederacy maintain this critical industrial lifeline.

Onto this stage stepped Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory. Perhaps one of Jefferson Davis' better cabinet appointments, Mallory served as the pre-war chairman of the U.S. Senate's Naval Affairs Committee and immediately recognized that the South could never match the North's superior shipbuilding capabilities unless a novel weapon was introduced into the fray. Mallory's solution was to build or purchase a fleet of ironclad vessels.



The concept of pitting "iron against wood" was not new naval warfare. The Koreans had repulsed a Japanese invasion in 1592 with an iron-covered "tortoise ship," and during the Crimean War the French utilized floating ironcased batteries to shell Russian forts. Based on this experience in 1859, the French navy launched the Gloire, which was a traditional warship design covered with iron plates. The Royal Navy, not to be outdone by the French, introduced an ambitious production program. The H.M.S. Warrior and H.M.S. Black Prince were two of 10 armorclads under construction in British shipyards by early 1861. Despite the European rush to build iron warships, the U.S. Navy had not made any concerted effort to construct armored vessels by the time of the Civil War. Mallory's desire to construct Confederate blockade-breaking iron-plated steam ships was given a tremendous boost when Virginia seceded from the Union. The Federals were forced to abandon Gosport Navy Yard across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk in Portsmouth. Gosport had been one of the U.S. Navy's finest shipyards, containing excellent shipbuilding facilities and materials. Of perhaps equal importance was that the retreating Federals had scuttled several ships, including the steam frigate U.S.S. Merrimack. The Confederates then raised the Merrimack and began to convert the frigate into an ironclad. The effort would tax Southern resources severely, yet it was an amazing test of Confederate ingenuity.

The Merrimack was completely reconfigured during its conversion. A 178-foot long slope-sided casemate, covered by 4 inches of ironplate bolted to 24 inches of oak and pine backing, was constructed atop the ship's charred hull. The ironclad was armed with six 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbores, two 6.4-inch Brooke rifles, and two 7-inch Brooke rifles, which served as pivot guns. A 6-foot-long, 1,500-pound cast iron ram completed the vessel's weaponry.



The Merrimack was launched on Feb. 17, 1862, and recommissioned as the C.S.S. Virginia. The ironclad appeared to be a powerful vessel, but there were numerous defects. With her 268-foot length and draught of 22 feet, the Virginia proved to be difficult to maneuver. The two salvaged 600-horsepower engines of the old Merrimack, previously condemned, were used to propel the Virginia. Lt. John Taylor Wood noted that the ironclad was as unmanageable as a "waterlogged vessel."

While the Southerners grappled with the Merrimack's conversion, Union leaders also recognized the importance of building ironclads. The U.S. Navy established an ironclad board in August 1861 to review armored ship concepts. The board reluctantly selected John Ericsson's novel design as one of three iron vessels to be constructed in East Coast shipyards. The U.S.S. Monitor, initially called "Ericsson's Folly," was truly a unique vessel. The ironclad was 173 feet in length, weighed 776 tons and had a beam of 41.5 feet. With a draft of 11 feet and a freeboard of less than 1 foot, the ironclad was virtually awash with the sea. The Monitor's most impressive and dominant feature was its rotating turret, which contained two 11-inch smoothbore Dahlgrens. One crew member noted the ironclad as "the strangest craft I had ever seen"; and another observed before the Monitor left New York, "She had not been pronounced seaworthy, and no one could safely judge of her fighting qualities."

The Monitor was constructed in a little more than 100 days. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles wanted the Union ironclad to reach Hampton Roads quickly to destroy the Confederate ironclad in drydock. His dreams would be shattered by a mere day.



Even though both ironclads were ready for battle by early March 1862, the Merrimack, now re-christened as the C.S.S. Virginia, would win the race to gain naval supremacy in Hampton Roads. While the Monitor struggled against a gale along the mid-Atlantic coast toward the Chesapeake Capes, the Confederate ironclad embarked on its first cruise. The Confederates, however, were unsure of the vessel's capabilities as the ironclad steamed away from its dock at Gosport Navy Yard. Most of the officers and crew believed the trip down river was just a trial run, but Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan had other thoughts. "Old Buck" had been assigned to the Virginia because of his aggressive nature and he planned to test the vessel in combat. Buchanan had corresponded with Maj. Gen. John Bankhead Magruder, commander of the Confederate Army of the Peninsula, in late February to develop a joint Army-Navy operation against the Union Camp Butler on Newport News Point. Even though "Prince John" had agreed initially to this plan, he backed off as time neared to execution, stating that "no one ship can produce such an impression upon the troops at Newport News as to cause them to evacuate the fort."

Undaunted, when the Virginia reached Craney island at 12:30 pm on March 8, 1862, Buchanan ordered the ironclad forward to attack the Union fleet. The Virginia entered Hampton Roads appearing, according to Henry Reaney of the tugboat Zouave, like "the roof of a very big barn belching forth smoke as from a chimney on fire." The entire Union fleet went to battle stations. The Federals had been expecting the ironclad for some time and the U.S.S. Congress and U.S.S. Cumberland were positioned off Newport News Point. Buchanan's first target was the Cumberland. He previously had told Chief Engineer H. Ashton Ramsay, "I am going to ram the Cumberland, I'm told she has the new rifles, the only ones in their whole fleet we have cause to fear. The moment we are out in the Roads I'm going to make right for her and ram her."

As the Virginia began her run at the Cumberland, the Union ships and shore batteries began shelling the ironclad with little impact. The shot "had no effect on her," noted Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge of the Cumberland "but glanced off like pebble stones." Methodically passing the 50-gun U.S.S.Congress, the Virginia rammed the 24-gun sailing sloop-of-war Cumberland, creating a hole, according to Lt. John Taylor Wood, "wide enough to drive in a horse and cart." The mortally wounded Cumberland began to sink and trapped the Virginia's ram within her. The Virginia's engines struggled to free her from being pulled under the waves with the Cumberland. The ironclad survived only because her ram broke off.



The Virginia backed clear and continued to pour shot and shell into the Cumberland. Both were now engulfed in gun smoke. The Virginia's sloped sides, coated with grease to help deflect shot, began to crackle and pop from the heat. Midshipman Hardin Littlepage recalled that the ironclad seemed to be "frying from one end to the other." Littlepage later recounted one excited exchange between two crew members: "Jack, don't this smell like hell?" "It certainly does, and I think that we will all be there in a few minutes." It was indeed hell on the Cumberland. Master Moses Stuyvesant remembered it as "a scene of carnage and destruction never to be recalled without horror." Finally, the Cumberland lurched forward and sank with all her flags flying as Lt. George U. Morris called to the crew, "Give them a Broadside boys, as she goes."

Buchanan now turned his ironclad toward the Congress. The Union frigate had run aground trying to escape, and the Virginia could approach only within a hundred yards, pounding the Congress with shot and shell for almost an hour until the Congress surrendered. While overseeing the removal of the wounded from the Congress, musket fire from troops on Newport News Point wounded Buchanan. He ordered the destruction of the Congress and then gave up his command to Lt. Catesby ap Roger Jones. The Virginia moved to attack the U.S.S. Minnesota, one of three vessels that had run aground coming to the aid of the Cumberland and Congress, and was saved from certain destruction only because the tide had ebbed. The Confederate ironclad returned to Sewell's Point determined to finish destroying the Union fleet the next morning. President Abraham Lincoln viewed the sinking of the Congress and Cumberland as the greatest calamity since Bull Run. Secretary of War Edwin W. Stanton feared that the Merrimack would "soon come up the Potomac and disperse Congress, destroy the Capitol and public buildings." Little did Northern leaders realize that the Confederate ironclad was considered by its commander so unseaworthy that it could not leave Hampton Roads.



As the Union high command fretted, the U.S.S. Monitor, which almost had sunk en route from New York, entered Hampton Roads aglow from the flames consuming the Congress. The Union ironclad positioned itself next to the U.S.S. Minnesota to await the return of the C.S.S. Virginia.

On the morning of March 9, Catesby Jones got the Virginia underway only to be amazed by the sight of the Monitor moving away from the Minnesota. One Confederate noted, "Such a craft as the eyes of a seaman never looked upon before - an immense shingle floating in the water, with a gigantic cheesebox rising from its center; no sails, no wheels, no smokestack, no guns. What could it be?" Jones immediately recognized it as Ericsson's iron battery.

During the next four hours, the Monitor and Virginia dueled each other, often at a range of less than 10 yards. Neither vessel was able to gain an advantage. Worden hoped that firing his heavy shot, 168-pound spherical projectiles using 15 pounds of powder, would loosen or break the Virginia's ironplates. In turn, the Virginia was at a disadvantage. She had only explosive shells, hot shot, and canister specifically to use against wooden vessels. Thus, Jones's strategy was to concentrate on the Minnesota and if necessary to try to ram or board the Monitor.

The Monitor's small size and quickness frustrated the Confederates, who tried to fire at the Union ironclad's gun ports but discovered that the turret revolved too quickly. Nevertheless, there were several problems on board the Monitor despite her many technological advantages. The port stoppers proved to be almost too heavy to operate and only one gun could be fired at a time. Both ports were left open because it was the only way to enhance the gun crew's vision since the communications system between the pilothouse and turret failed to perform. The turret's rotating system also malfunctioned. Thus, the turret could not be stopped with any precision. Eventually, the guns were discharged - on the fly as the turret turned past the target.



After two hours of combat, the Virginia finally was able to move against the Minnesota when the Monitor withdrew to replenish ammunition, yet ran aground. For almost an hour the Union ironclad fired shot against the Confederate vessel's iron sides. The Virginia finally freed itself and rammed the Monitor, but only with a glancing blow. The Monitor's evasive action enabled Jones to attack the Minnesota again until the Monitor once again could block the Virginia's attack against the wooden vessel. The Monitor now decided to ram the Virginia, seeking to strike the larger ironclad propeller and disable her. The Union ironclad missed her target because of a malfunctioning steering system. As the Monitor passed the stern of the Virginia, a shot hit the Monitor's pilothouse, blinding her commander, Lt. John Lorimer Worden, and causing the Monitor to break off action temporarily. Jones considered renewing the attack against the Minnesota but the receding tide prompted him to order the Virginia back to Norfolk. Lt. Samuel Dana Greene, the Monitor's executive officer, finally was able to bring the Federal ironclad back into action as the Virginia steamed away. The first battle between ironclads was over. The two vessels were destined never to fight each other again and both were later destroyed, the Virginia by its own crew on May 11, 1862, the Monitor by a storm on Dec. 31, 1862.

Neither ironclad had been damaged seriously during the March 9 engagement and both claimed victory. Tactical success must be accorded to the Monitor, as the Union ironclad had defended the Minnesota and the rest of the wooden Union fleet effectively. The strategic victor, however, was the Virginia, as the Confederate ironclad retained control of Hampton Roads. The Virginia's ability to defend Norfolk and the James River approach to Richmond altered and delayed Union Gen. George B. McClellan's attempt to strike at the Confederate capital by way of the Peninsula.



Perhaps of even greater importance was the engagement's impact on naval warfare. The Virginia's sinking of two wooden vessels on March 8 and the technological superiority of the Monitor's iron revolving turret in effect sank all of the world's wooden navies. Iron now ruled supreme across the seas.

[Non-Sequitur]

Does it show?

[Soaring Feather]

My pleasure SAM.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! A little.

[75thOVI]

A song to go along with the thread;
"The Cumberland Crew"

Shipmates come gather and join in my ditty,
of the terrible battle that happened of late.
Let each Union tar shed a tear of sad pity,
when he thinks of the once gallant Cumberland's fate.
The eighth day of March told a terrible story,
when many a brave tar to this world bid adeu.
Our flag it was wrapped in a mantle of glory,
by the heroic deeds of the Cumberland's crew.

On that ill fated day, about ten in the morning,
the sky it was cloudless and bright shone the Sun.
The drums of the Cumberland sounded a warning,
that told every seaman to stand by his guns.
For an ironclad frigate down on us came bearing,
high up in the air her base rebel flag flew.
An emblem of treason she proudly was wearing,
determined to conquor the Cumberland crew.

Then up spoke our captain with stern resolution,
"Now boys, of this monster do not be afraid."
"We'll swear to maintain our beloved Constitution.
To die for our country we are not afraid."
"We'll fight for our Union, our cause it is glorious,
to the stars and the stripes we shall ever stand true."
"We'll sink at our quarters or conquor victorious!"
He was answered by cheers from the Cumberland crew.

Our noble ship fired, huge guns, dreadful thunder,
our broadsides like hail on the rebel did pour.
But, the people gazed awestruck with terror and wonder,
as our shot struck her side, and glanced harmlessly o'er.
But the pride of our Navy could never be daunted,
though our decks with the dead and the wounded did strew.
Our Star Spangled Banner how proudly it flaunted,
it was nailed to the mast by the Cumberland crew.

We fought them three hours with stern resolution,
till these rebels found cannon could never decide.
For the flag of succession had no power to quell them,
though the blood from our scuppers did crimson the tide.
She struck us amidships, our planks she did sever,
her sharp iron prow pierced our noble ship through.
And they cried at they sank in the dark rolling river,
"We'll die at our guns!" said the Cumberland's crew.

Slowly they sank in the dark rolling waters,
their voices on earth shall be heard nevermore.
They'll be wept by Columbia's brave sons and fair daughters,
may their blood be avenged on Virginia's old shore.
And if there are sailors in battle assembled,
God bless our dear banner, the red, white, and blue.
Beneath it's proud folds we'll cause tyrants to tremble,
or sink at our guns like the Cumberland's crew.

1862

[Sparta]

Another outstanding job by our friends in the Foxhole.

The first ironclad battle ping

If you want on or off the Western Civlization Military History ping list, let me know.

[Sparta]

The tragic thing is that neither ship lasted the year. Virginia was scuttled and Monitor went down in a storm off the coast of North Carolina.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks, 75thOVI.

[SAMWolf]

I didn't know Melville wrote poetry.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Sparta. Thanks for the bump.

[SAMWolf]

LOL!

we've been here before
deja vu striking again
once more with feeling

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Don't tell my friends that, I'd never live it down.

[SAMWolf]

On December 30, 1862 the USS Monitor sank during a gale off Cape Hatteras, NC. The Monitor had battled the CSS Virginia in March of that year in the first battle of ironclad warships at Hampton Roads, VA. The following account appeared in the Baltimore American on January 5, 1863.

"In conversation with several officers and crew of the Monitor I gather the following narrative of the facts attending the loss of the noble little vessel and so many of her crew:

We left Fortress Monroe on Monday, the 20th of December, in tow of the steamer Rhode Island with the Passaic in tow of the steamer, State of Georgia. We passed Cape Henry Monday afternoon at 5 o’clock, with a smooth sea and light wind. The Passaic was a little way ahead. The weather continued fine until five o’clock Tuesday evening, when it commenced to blow from the South West, with a heavy sea running and making a clean sweep over all.

At 9:30 Cape Hatteras bore NNW, distant 20 miles. The gale still increased. The vessel labored very heavily, the upper hull coming down upon every sea with fearful violence. Up to this time the Worthington pumps and bilge injectors were entirely competent to keep the vessel free.

At 10 o’clock several heavy seas struck the vessel in succession, when word was sent up from the engine rooms that the water was gaining on the pumps. Orders were then given to start Adams’ Centrifugal Pump, capable of throwing three thousand gallons of water per minute. For a while the water appeared to be kept under.

In a short time, however, word was passed from the engine room that the water was again gaining on the pumps, and was at that time up to the ash pits, in a great measure stopping the draft. The water at this time was standing two feet deep on the ward room floor.

All hands were then set to work with every bucket on hand to bail. Water, however, kept gaining upon the pumps until within a foot of the fires in the furnaces.

A "Costern" signal was then flashed to call the attention of the Rhode Island to our condition. After much delay, consequent upon the heavy sea running, a boat was lowered from the Rhode Island and sent to our assistance. After several trials she succeeded in getting alongside of us.

The Rhode Island at the same time in going astern, caught her launch between her own side and our vessel, crushing the boat badly and bringing her own counter very heavily down upon our side. For a time she could not move her engine. Getting on a centre she finally started ahead, and the launch, smashed as it was, succeeded in conveying to the steamer thirty of the crew of the monitor.

After the departure of the launch, those remaining on board worked at the buckets with a will. The gale at this time was raging furiously, the sea making a clean sweep over the top of the turret. The water at this juncture had succeeded in rising up to the grade bars of the furnaces, and was gradually extinguishing the flames. The steam in the boilers consequently ran down, and the pumps could not be worked for want of sufficient steam.

At this time three boats were discovered coming towards the vessel. Word was passed that boats were at hand sufficient to take all of them from the vessel. The Monitor was sinking. Every pump was stopped, and her deck was under water. Several, in coming off the turret were swept by the waves to the leeward and must have perished as no assistance could be rendered them.

The boats shoved off from the sinking vessel, and though entreated to come down and get in them, several remained standing up on the turret, afraid of being swept from the deck, stupefied by fear. The boats succeeded in reaching the Rhode Island in safety and all on them got on board.

A picked crew with the gallant officer of the Rhode Island, Mr. Brown, then shoved off in the launch to return to the Monitor. The moon, which up to this time had been throwing some light upon the waves, was shut out by dense masses of black clouds.

At a quarter to one in the morning, the Monitor’s lights disappeared beneath the waves. The Rhode Island then started for the spot where the Monitor was seen to go down. Costern signals were constantly kept up on all parts of the vessel to catch a glimpse of the missing boat.

At daylight nothing was seen on the waves and with heavy hearts we ran around the spot as nearly as could be judged where the Monitor had disappeared until late in the afternoon. Several steamers and other vessels were spoken, to learn, if possible, the fate of the missing boat, but nothing could be heard.

The survivors reached Fortress Monroe last evening in the Rhode Island. Nothing whatever was saved."

[Non-Sequitur]

The Monitor was designed for coastal service only. Erickson's goal was to give the opposing ship as little as possible to aim for. The Monitor had a freeboard of only two or three feet, didn't have a permanent smoke stack, and her pilot house was forward at the level of the main deck. Erickson believed that the Monitor would ride over the waves like a shingle, but her weight was such that the opposite occured. As a result, in any kind of sea the pilot house flooded, the temporary smoke-stacks leaked water into the boilers, and the ship was in trouble. Compare that to this photo of U.S.S. Lehigh

The tall stack is immediately noticable and the structure on top of the turret is the pilot house. These ships proved more seaworthy than the Monitor was, although they were still suited only for coastal work.

[SAMWolf]

Looks like we're both having trouble with our graphics today.

[Non-Sequitur]

Hmmm. Worked when I previewed it. Oh well, trust me I know what I'm talking about.

[75thOVI]

I just wish I knew how to add the tune. (humming to self the whole time.) It's really quite pretty. Each verse starts in major chord, shifts to minor in the middle and finishes major in the last line. That song brings tears to my eyes every time I sing it.