Monitor v. Virginia

Monitor v. Virginia, historic naval battle of the American Civil War fought on March 9, 1862, between a Union ship, the Monitor, and the Confederate Virginia (also known as Merrimack). Both vessels had been covered in iron; the battle was the first conflict between ironclad warships.

On March 9, 1862, the Monitor engaged the Virginia at Hampton Roads, off the Virginia coast, where on the previous day the Virginia had destroyed two Union ships. Exchanges of fire did not produce substantial damage, but after a few hours of battle the Virginia was forced to withdraw to Norfolk because of sinking tides. The battle at Hampton Roads is thus generally considered a draw. The encounter, however, proved the effectiveness of the new ironclad ships, and it marked the beginning of modern naval engineering.

The Virginia, originally a wooden steam frigate called the Merrimack, had been sunk and abandoned by Union forces in the Elizabeth River off Norfolk, Virginia, in the spring of 1861. It was raised by Confederate forces a few months later and rebuilt as an ironclad vessel and renamed the Virginia. Two months after the inconclusive battle with the Monitor, the Virginia was destroyed by Confederate forces when they evacuated the Norfolk Navy Yard.

John Ericsson, a Swedish-American engineer, designed the Monitor. It was a much lighter vessel than the Virginia and had a revolving turret with two heavy guns. It sank on December 31, 1862, during a storm off Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. During World War II (1939-1945), it was mistaken for a submarine and hit by depth charges. Rediscovered in 1976, its hull has since been visited by divers and robot drones, and the ship's anchor was recovered in 1983. The Monitor's hull itself, however, is badly corroded.