USS Monitor Fights CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads

Only a low deck and a revolving gun turret rose prominently above USS Monitor when it fought CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862, during the American Civil War. John Ericsson, the Swedish born engineer who designed it, had concentrated the ship’s armament in a turret carrying two heavy guns. [2] [3]

Virginia had destroyed two wooden Union warships the previous day. When the Confederate vessel returned, Monitor was there to meet it, and for hours the ironclads fired and maneuvered at close quarters, their armor resisting blows that had proved devastating against wooden hulls. Neither won a decisive victory, but Virginia withdrew and the immediate threat to the remaining Union ships eased. [2]

The battle demonstrated the possibilities of steam propulsion, armor, and a rotating turret, though Monitor’s low hull left it vulnerable in heavy weather. The ship sank off Cape Hatteras later that year. [2] [3]

Related Diplomats

1. Carl Edward Vilhelm Piper [4] [5] [6]

Related Reading

• Sweden and the United States