Introduction The Monitor and the Merrimack (rechristened the Virginia), have the honour of being the first two ironclads to fight it out in naval history. While neither design was particularly functional they represented "state of the art" technology in 1862. In another way they also echoed the way that the war would be fought by both sides. The Monitor representing a radical new design, its construction made possible by the industrial mightof the north. The Merrimack, a bumt out hulk raised and refitted as an ironclad by the south was unreliable and erratic but still a threat to the north. The purpose of this series of articles will be to briefly describe the history of both ships, the outcome of their encounters and how to model the two ships. The last article will suggest how the naval battle between the two irondads in the Hampton Roads in 1862 might be wargamed. These outline rules will also form the basisfor a simplified set of American Civil War naval rules for use with miniature ships. Ironclad Prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War there was very little interest shown in the Ironclad developments in most european navies. Instead the American governement seemed content to watch from a distance. The American Navy had some forty- two wooden ships, dispersed mostly in foreign stations, at the start of the war. Merrimack CSS Merrimack started life as one of six first class ships authorized by Congress in 1854. As originally built the ship was made of seasoned oak with 10 principal sails, and was considered fast and hardy under sail at this time. Late in 1860 the Merrimack put into Gosport Navy Yard, Virginia, for badly needed repairs. Unfortunately, despite some plans to move her prior to the outbreak of war, she fell under Confederate control. Union attempts to destroy the yard were thwarted by the confederates who scored a significant coup by seizing one of the finest yards in the country. The sunken Merrimack was quickly raised and transformed into an ironclad at a cost of some US$172,000. 2 inch armour was attached to the large centre structure at great effort and only after 1 inch plating was found to be inadequate. The transformed ship now had a 170 foot long armoured superstructure (casemate) amidships, with sides slopingback at 36 degrees. Both ends of the structure were rounded. The armour made from rolled railroad iron was applied in two layers with four elliptical gun ports cut into the structure. Under the command of Captain Franklin Buchanan, the vessel left the yards at 11am on the 8th of March, 1862. This "trial trip" became an attack against the Union fleet. The U.S.S. Cumberland was the first target, sunk after several broadsides from the Merrimack and a ramming which left most of the Merrimack's ram in the sinking Cumbertand . The U.S.S. Congress was the next victim of the ironclad's attention. It blew up at midnight. The Merrimack returned to battle the following morning in an inconclusive action with the Monitor. The Monitor engaged with reduced charges in her guns, so the full effect was not felt, while the Merrimack, now low on powder, had only shell rather than solid shot to use against her enemy. After the Confederates evacuated from Norfolk, the Merrimack operated from up the James River, however she was eventually run aground and burned. Thus, she suffered the fate of so many Confederate ironclads that were scuttled rather than lost to enemy fire. The Monitor The Monitor was lucky to have been built at all! In response to the building of the CSS Virginia a number of designs were considered as a counter to the threat of the confederate ironclad. The "Ironclad Board" set up to consider designs received 16 different designs, including a 'rubber clad' design! One vessel, the Monitor, had been designed by someone outside the navy, and therefore was treated with caution, but because it was the only one capable of being constructed in time, was given the go ahead. Whereas the Virginia sporting an array of weaponry, the Monitor had only two 11-inch Dahlgrens, located in a turret. Its armor was also twice as thick as that of the Virginia. When the Virginia moved against the Union fleet, the Monitor, belching black smoke from her damaged funnel, moved out to quickly place herself between the vulnerable wooden union ships and the Virginia. The Monitor, a much smaller and agile ship, easily outmanouevered the Virginia. The action was furious and despite being at such short range, neither ship took substantial damage. The Virginia was struck 20 times and the Monitor, 24 times. The Monitor and the Virginia withdrew and met again the next day. The action was inconclusive and in 1862 the Monitor sank off Charleston in a violent storm. Monitor and Merrimack Illustrations/Specs Back to The Zouave Vol VII No. 3 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 The American Civil War Society This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com