History of the Monitor
The USS Monitor was one of the first fighting ships to
be constructed of iron and powered by steam during a time when most ships
were made of wood and sail-powered.
The famous first battle between ironclad warships occurred
on March 9, 1862, when the Monitor fought against the USS Merrimack, an
ironclad ship acquired by the Confederate States Navy when the state of
Virginia withdrew from the Union. The USS Merrimack was renamed CSS Virginia.
The Monitor and the Virginia battled for four hours in
the Hampton Roads, Virginia. But although the ships were able to get close
to each other and fire at point-blank ranges, neither ship was seriously
damaged, and neither side was declared a winner that day.
Despite this inconclusive battle, both the Union and the
Confederacy began to invest time and money in developing ironclad warships.
For two months, the Monitor and Virginia battled. The Virginia
sank on May 10 after it took in too much water to escape, and the Monitor
was released from duty.
Later that year, on December 29, 1862, when the Monitor
was being towed, rough weather and heavy seas caused the ship to take on
water and start to sink. The ship disappeared at about 1:30 a.m. on December
31. Sixteen men were lost.
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