Naval Battles Essay Research Paper Civil War
Naval Battles Essay, Research Paper
Civil War & # 8211 ; Monitor vs. Merrimack
The conflict on March 9, 1862, between the USS Monitor and the
CSS Merrimack, officially the CSS Virginia, is one of the most
radical naval conflicts in universe history. Up until that point, all
conflicts had been waged between wooden ships. This was the first conflict
in nautical history that two ironclad ships waged war.
The USS Merrimack was a Union frigate throughout most of its
being, up until the Union Navy abandoned the Norfolk Naval Yard.
To forestall the Confederate Navy from utilizing her against them, the Union
Navy scuttled her. The Confederates, nevertheless, raised the ship from the
shallow floor of the ocean and began doing some major alterations.
Confederate applied scientists cut the hull down to the H2O line and built a
slanted top on it. Then, they bolted four beds of Fe sheets, each
two inches thick, to the full construction. Besides added was a immense
buffeting random-access memory to the bow of the ship to be used in pounding manoeuvres.
The ship was so fitted with 10 twelve-pound cannons. There were
four guns placed on the starboard and port sides, and one on the bow
and austere sides. Due to its monolithic nature the ship & # 8217 ; s bill of exchange was
tremendous, it stretched 22 pess to the underside. The ship was so
slow and long, that it required a turning radius of about one stat mi.
Likened to a & # 8220 ; drifting barn roof ( DesJardien 2 ) & # 8221 ; and non predicted to
float, the lone single willing to take bid of the ship was
Captain Franklin Buchanan. After all the alterations were complete,
the ship was rechristened the CSS Virginia, but the original name
the CSS Merrimack is the preferable name.
The USS Monitor was the creative activity of Swedish-American applied scientist,
John Ericsson. The ship was considered little for a war vessel, merely 172
pess long and 42 pess broad. Confederate crewmans were baffled by the
ship. One was quoted depicting her as & # 8220 ; . . . a trade such as the eyes
of a mariner ne’er looked upon before, an huge shake drifting on
the H2O with a elephantine cheese box lifting from its centre & # 8221 ; ( Ward 101 ) .
The & # 8220 ; cheese box & # 8221 ; was a nine by 20 pes go arounding turret with two
monolithic guns inside. & # 8220 ; The USS Monitor used two of the 11 inch
Dahlgran guns. . . & # 8221 ; ( Lavy 2 ) . These Dahlgran guns were monolithic rifled
cannons that were capable of firing a assortment of shooting. The armour of
this ship was a two inch thick bed of steel that shielded the ship.
The deck was so low to the H2O line, about one pes, that waves
often washed over the deck doing the ship to lose its balance
in the H2O. Due to the low profile, the full crew was located
below the H2O line, so one armour piercing hit would kill the full
crew. Like the CSS Merrimack, the USS Monitor was expected to drop, it
was referred to as & # 8220 ; Ericsson & # 8217 ; s Folly & # 8221 ; ( DesJardien 2 ) . The lone
single willing to take bid of the ship was Lieutenant John
Worden.
The conflict at Hampton Roads was portion of the Peninsula Campaign
that lasted from March to August of 1862. There was a sum of five
ships engaged in the conflict. From the US Navy, there were four ships,
the USS Congress, USS Minnesota, USS Cumberland, and the USS Monitor.
The CS Navy had one ship, the CSS Merrimack. On March 8, 1862, the CSS
Merrimack steamed into Hampton Roads. She proceeded to drop the USS
Cumberland and so ran the USS Congress aground. Captain Buchanan
so put his sights on the already handicapped USS Minnesota. The USS
Minnesota was run aground on one of the shores. Capt. Buchanan did non
know, but the USS Monitor was lying in delay, ordered to protect the
wounded USS Minnesota. Lt. Worden steamed out into the center of the
bay to m
eet the CSS Merrimack. The USS Monitor fired foremost in a drawn
out conflict that lasted about four and a half hours. & # 8220 ; They fired shooting,
shell, grape, case shot, musket and rifle balls making no harm to each
other & # 8221 ; ( Lavy 3 ) .
After four and a half hours, the CSS Merrimack withdrew due to
falling tides. The USS Monitor did non do pursuit because of a cleft
in the turret. The consequences of the conflict were inconclusive, neither
side could claim triumph. The estimated casualties ensuing from the
conflict were extended. The Union lost about 409 crewmans and the
Confederate states lost about 24 crewmans. The conflict was so impressive to
the leaders of both the Union and the Confederacy, that they
contracted their Naval paces to hold more ironclad ships built.
Additions to the Confederate fleet included the CSS Tennessee, a 209
pes long blockade smuggler with four circular cannons and pivoted
cannons at the bow and austere. Additions to the Union Navy included the
USS Carondelet. Armed with 13 guns and stationed on the
Mississippi, she was a formidable opposition. Prior to the edifice of
the USS Monitor, the USS New Ironsides was built. & # 8220 ; It was the
strongest ship of all time built by the Northern Navy & # 8221 ; ( Lavy 4 ) . Wooden ships
were now disused. Ironclad ships began to turn over out of ship paces more
frequently than their wooden opposite numbers. & # 8220 ; The innovation of ironclads in
the Civil War set illustrations for the hereafter of ship edifice in the
United States & # 8221 ; ( Lavy 5 ) .
The ironclads were at an advantage over the wooden ships of
the two Navies because of their superior engineering. Ironclads could
withstand hours of buffeting by heavy weapon, and they could be used to
cut traffic lanes through mine Fieldss. Their armour could defy the
blast from a mine well better than any wooden ship could. They
could besides transport more powerful guns. Due to their increased stableness
in the H2O these monolithic ships could easy digest the kick of a
immense cannon. Another utile feature of the ironclads was their
ability to be used in pounding missions. The hull of the ship would non
be compromised by a hit associated with pounding a wooden vas.
Because of Civil War engineering, the United States has ne’er
built another wooden battlewagon since the debut of the
ironclads. Every armed struggle since so has seen more and more
betterments in the manner ironclad ships were built. The debut of
multiple monolithic turrets in the late 1800s improved the firepower
dramatically. Later redevelopments included improved power workss and
more annihilating arms. Possibly the greatest redevelopment came in the
pre-World War I era with the debut of the aircraft bearer.
Today, ironclad ships are so advanced that they are barely bigger
than the ironclads used in the Civil War, but they are 100s if non
1000s times more powerful.
Although the wooden ship has proved highly effectual in
naval conflicts throughout history, the coming of the ironclad wholly
revolutionized the manner in which naval forces around the universe attack
warfare. & # 8220 ; From the minute the two ships opened fire that Sunday
forenoon, every other naval forces on Earth was disused & # 8221 ; ( Ward 102 ) .
& # 8212 ;
DesJardien, Matt. & # 8220 ; The Ironclads. & # 8221 ; www.shorelin.wednet.edu/Echo
Lake/Civil War/Matt D*Ironclads.html.
Lavy, Gabe. & # 8220 ; A Comparison of the Role and Importance of the Northern
and Southern Navies to the Fighting of the Civil War. & # 8221 ;
www.geocities.com/Athens/2391/Final.htm.
& # 8220 ; Monitor v. Merrimack, & # 8221 ; Microsoft Encarta 1996 Encyclopedia. Microsoft
Corp. , Funk and Wagnalls Corp. 1993-95.
Ward, Geoffrey C. The Civil War: An Illustrated History. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. , 1990.
