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USS Monitor
with wooden ships in the background
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The civil war Ironclad USS Monitor was designed and built by Swedish Immigrant John Eriksson to counter the Confederate Ironclad CSS Virginia that was under construction in the James River. The CSS Virginia was built on the salvaged hulk of the Union Warship Merrimack that had been scuttled at the Norfolk Navy yard to prevent it falling into Confederate hands.
On March 8th 1862 the Merrimack steamed out and quickly sank the USS Cumberland and then the USS Congress before the falling tide required that she returned to deeper water and returned home to the James River. The Union Blockade that was strangling the Confederacy was almost broken. The Next day, March 9th, the Virginia raised anchor at daybreak and steamed out to finish off the USS Minnesota which had run aground trying to escape.
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A funny looking little vessel resembling a cheese box on a raft steamed out to meet her and one of the most famous naval battles ever fought commenced. Neither vessel was able to cause severe damage to the other and they fought until again the Virginia had to retire to deeper water on the falling tide. The Confederates were forced to scuttle the Merrimac / CSS Virginia in late spring when Norfolk fell and the threat was removed.
The Monitor was reworked over the summer and fall of 1862 when the war department decided to move her to the blockade of Charlestown, South Carolina where another Confederate ironclad was rumored to be under construction. The Monitor left the mouth of the Chesapeake under tow by the side wheel steamer Rhode Island in convoy with another new Monitor the USS Passaic under tow by another side wheeler. On New Years eve, December 31st 1862, they ran into a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and the Monitor down flooded, capsized and sank. The Passaic survived by turning back north and running before the storm while jettisoning all her shot and anything that was not nailed down to lighten the ship.
Members of the SNAME Marine Forensics Committee in close cooperation with the Mariners Museum in Norfolk, Virginia (USA and not CSA in part because of the Monitor) are working to reconstruct the ships hydrostatics and hydrodynamics on the night of her sinking. This exciting investigation using the latest in non-linear seakeeping analyses hopes to show definitively what happened and in what order.
Learn more on the US Naval Historical Center website.
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