USS Monitor
Improvements in gun design in the 1820s, following the Napoleonic Wars, rendered the wooden warship largely obsolete. Firing explosive shells rather than solid cannonballs meant that wooden ships would likely be blown apart in battle in short order. To counter shell-armed ships, Great Britain, France and the US began to experiment with armoring their ships--giving them a coating of iron. However, it was too heavy for sailing ships to carry, so "ironclads" would have to wait until steam propulsion was perfected. French floating batteries during the Crimean War proved the concept, and by 1861 both the UK and France had built one ironclad apiece.
The US Navy let their ironclad designs lapse, even after the Civil War began. When the Union learned in late 1861 that the Confederate Navy was rebuilding the old steam frigate Merrimack into an ironclad--the CSS Virginia--frantic efforts began to design and build a counter. Purely by chance, a Swedish designer, John Ericsson, got his design submitted for review by the US Navy. Despite some misgivings by the review board, Ericsson's design was personally approved by President Lincoln, and construction began immediately. Ericsson would name his design the Monitor, and it was completed in 101 days.
When the Monitor was commissioned in February 1862, it could be seen why the Navy had reservations about the design. Little of the Monitor was visible above the water's surface. Ericsson designed the ship to present the smallest target possible, so most of the engineering spaces, living quarters, and command areas were belowdecks and essentially below the waterline. Only a small pilothouse and the turret were visible, and everything above the waterline was heavily armored with iron plating. Despite the ungainliness of the design, Ericsson provided relatively comfortable crew quarters. It was slow, but the Monitor was designed mainly for "brown water" river operations where speed was not considered a factor.
The turret was the most revolutionary aspect of the Monitor, though no less than 40 patents were filed on the design. Instead of the multi-gun broadsides used by all other ships at the time, the Monitor only carried a pair of 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbores. It did not need more, because the turret could be rapidly rotated to bear on targets.
The Monitor barely passed its sea trials, but she was hurried into service nonetheless: the Union learned that the Virginia was ready for combat. The Monitor was sent south, but nearly sank in a storm on the way, and so arrived at Hampton Roads a day late. By that time, the Virginia had already wreaked havoc, sinking two Union frigates and driving a third aground. The next day, on 9 March 1862, the two ironclads finally met in battle.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, however, ended on something of an anticlimax: both the Monitor and the Virginia were too heavily armored for either to do damage to the other. The Monitor sustained some damage that knocked out one of her guns, along with suffering wounded among her crew, but was never put out of action. Unable to reach the grounded ship, the Virginia withdrew from the action. After the battle, it was determined that the Monitor could have sunk the Confederate ironclad, if the Monitor's crew had aimed for the waterline or if the Navy followed Ericsson's suggestion and armed the Monitor with larger guns.
In the end, neither ironclad would live out the year. The Virginia was scuttled a few weeks later, because it could not go up the James River and was in danger of being captured. The Monitor was to sail south to Charleston, but sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras on 31 December 1862--it simply was never meant to travel in open ocean. The wreck of the Monitor was discovered in 1973, and artifacts from the ship are on display in various museums.
Dad bought the old Lindberg "Battle of the Ironclads" set, which was a "box scale" kit--the Monitor and the Virginia are not in scale with each other. Nonetheless, the models are accurate in the details of the ships. From this angle, only the armored portions of the Monitor can be seen, which was Ericsson's intention. This model now sits prominently in my office, and I use it frequently for teaching the Civil War.
USS Monitor
Improvements in gun design in the 1820s, following the Napoleonic Wars, rendered the wooden warship largely obsolete. Firing explosive shells rather than solid cannonballs meant that wooden ships would likely be blown apart in battle in short order. To counter shell-armed ships, Great Britain, France and the US began to experiment with armoring their ships--giving them a coating of iron. However, it was too heavy for sailing ships to carry, so "ironclads" would have to wait until steam propulsion was perfected. French floating batteries during the Crimean War proved the concept, and by 1861 both the UK and France had built one ironclad apiece.
The US Navy let their ironclad designs lapse, even after the Civil War began. When the Union learned in late 1861 that the Confederate Navy was rebuilding the old steam frigate Merrimack into an ironclad--the CSS Virginia--frantic efforts began to design and build a counter. Purely by chance, a Swedish designer, John Ericsson, got his design submitted for review by the US Navy. Despite some misgivings by the review board, Ericsson's design was personally approved by President Lincoln, and construction began immediately. Ericsson would name his design the Monitor, and it was completed in 101 days.
When the Monitor was commissioned in February 1862, it could be seen why the Navy had reservations about the design. Little of the Monitor was visible above the water's surface. Ericsson designed the ship to present the smallest target possible, so most of the engineering spaces, living quarters, and command areas were belowdecks and essentially below the waterline. Only a small pilothouse and the turret were visible, and everything above the waterline was heavily armored with iron plating. Despite the ungainliness of the design, Ericsson provided relatively comfortable crew quarters. It was slow, but the Monitor was designed mainly for "brown water" river operations where speed was not considered a factor.
The turret was the most revolutionary aspect of the Monitor, though no less than 40 patents were filed on the design. Instead of the multi-gun broadsides used by all other ships at the time, the Monitor only carried a pair of 11-inch Dahlgren smoothbores. It did not need more, because the turret could be rapidly rotated to bear on targets.
The Monitor barely passed its sea trials, but she was hurried into service nonetheless: the Union learned that the Virginia was ready for combat. The Monitor was sent south, but nearly sank in a storm on the way, and so arrived at Hampton Roads a day late. By that time, the Virginia had already wreaked havoc, sinking two Union frigates and driving a third aground. The next day, on 9 March 1862, the two ironclads finally met in battle.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, however, ended on something of an anticlimax: both the Monitor and the Virginia were too heavily armored for either to do damage to the other. The Monitor sustained some damage that knocked out one of her guns, along with suffering wounded among her crew, but was never put out of action. Unable to reach the grounded ship, the Virginia withdrew from the action. After the battle, it was determined that the Monitor could have sunk the Confederate ironclad, if the Monitor's crew had aimed for the waterline or if the Navy followed Ericsson's suggestion and armed the Monitor with larger guns.
In the end, neither ironclad would live out the year. The Virginia was scuttled a few weeks later, because it could not go up the James River and was in danger of being captured. The Monitor was to sail south to Charleston, but sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras on 31 December 1862--it simply was never meant to travel in open ocean. The wreck of the Monitor was discovered in 1973, and artifacts from the ship are on display in various museums.
Dad bought the old Lindberg "Battle of the Ironclads" set, which was a "box scale" kit--the Monitor and the Virginia are not in scale with each other. Nonetheless, the models are accurate in the details of the ships. From this angle, only the armored portions of the Monitor can be seen, which was Ericsson's intention. This model now sits prominently in my office, and I use it frequently for teaching the Civil War.