Battle of the Ironclads

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• 1. Development of the Ironclads
• 2. USS Merrimack
• 3. USS Monitor
• 4. Challenge to the northern blockade
• 5. Meeting of the Ironclads
• 6. Last orders
• 7. Find out more
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USS Merrimack

The 'USS Monitor' came out of a crisis facing President Lincoln at the start of the Civil War in 1860. To strangle Southern trade, Lincoln decided to use his vastly superior navy to blockade all major Southern ports. It was called the 'anaconda plan'.

But the North's largest naval yard at the mouth of the James River in Virginia soon came under threat. As the South closed in, Northern troops fled, torching whatever they could not take - including the enormous frigate the 'USS Merrimack'.

Historian Professor David Mindell, who has been fascinated by the 'Monitor' for many years, said: 'The Merrimack' was one of the largest steam frigates in the Union Navy at the time and the Union burned it and it sank right at its dock in the navy yard in Newport News. Rather than taking it out of action however it merely caused the South to innovate.'

When the South pulled up the wreckage of the 'USS Merrimack', the designers decided not to rebuild this wooden frigate. Instead they covered all 275 feet of her with thick plates of iron, added metals spikes and a 40 foot iron ram on her prow.

'The 'Merrimack' was one of the largest steam frigates in the US Navy at the time'

A monster had arisen from the ashes to threaten Lincoln’s blockade. Rumours of the South’s terrible new weapon sent a shiver of fear through the Union, even touching the heart of the president.

As Professor David Mindell wrote: 'One of the observers commented on Lincoln going to the window and actually looking out the window of the Oval office, trying to see down the Potomac, whether the 'Merrimack' wasn't steaming up the Potomac here to shell Washington into submission.'

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Published: 2006-01-12