SparrowHawk62
03-09-2004, 04:38 AM
March 8-9th Battle between the Monitor and the Virginia.
When the Confederates seized the navy base at Norfolk they came into possession of the hull of the frigate USS Merrimack. They raised the hull and outfitted it with thick steel plate surrounding it. They thus created the first ironclad. Word that the south was creating a ship that might threaten the union blockade fleet soon reached the North. In August Congress forced the Union navies hand when it enacted a law directing the building of three ironclads.
When the Confederates seized the navy base at Norfolk they came into possession of the hull of the frigate USS Merrimack. They raised the hull and outfitted it with thick steel plate surrounding it. They thus created the first ironclad. Word that the south was creating a ship that might threaten the union blockade fleet soon reached the North. In August Congress forced the Union navies hand when it enacted a law directing the building of three ironclads.