Overview

Written by Anna Gibson Holloway, former curator of the USS监视器Center

In early March 1862, construction crews in Brooklyn, New York and Portsmouth, Virginia were rushing to complete two vessels of radically different designs. In Brooklyn, the Union ironclad监视器was completing her sea trials before heading south to Hampton Roads to counter the threat of the Confederate ironcladVirginia(formerlyMerrimack). TheVirginia‘s first mission was to break the Union blockade of Hampton Roads and protect the waterways to Richmond from Union advances. Yet Stephen Russell Mallory, Secretary of the Confederate Navy, had even grander plans for the ironclad. He hoped that theVirginiacould then continue on and ravage the coastal cities of the Union. Washington, New York, and Boston were desired targets. In contrast, the监视器的使命非常专注；销毁Virginiaat her moorings if possible, but more importantly, protect the fleet at Hampton Roads as well as the city of Washington D.C. from attack by the “rebel monster.”

Both ironclads achieved certain elements of their objectives. TheVirginia摧毁了汉普顿道路的主要联盟船只，并使詹姆斯河一段时间以来一直关闭工会的进步。这监视器saved the fleet from further destruction and kept theVirginia被困在汉普顿路。但是，1862年3月8日至9日的重要性远远超出了汉普顿道路的直接需求。这Virginia3月8日证明了铁对伍德的力量，监视器和Virginiashowed the world’s navies the future of warship construction when the two clashed on March 9. This first meeting of two ironclad warships in battle forever changed naval architecture, battle tactics, and the very psychology of the men who served within them.

Saturday, March 8, 1862 was laundry day for the crews of the Union’s North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Hampton Roads, Virginia. The rigging of the wooden vessels was festooned with blue and white clothing, drying in the late winter sun. Shortly after noon, the quartermaster of the USS国会在纽波特新闻点（Newport News Point）靠在纽波特（Newport News Point）身上，他通过望远镜看到了一些奇怪的东西。他转向船的外科医生说：“我希望你能拿起杯子，看看那边，先生。我相信那个东西终于是一个人。”

那是CSSVirginia.这Confederates had been converting the burnt-out hull of the steam screw frigateMerrimackinto a casemated ironclad ram at Gosport Navy Yard on the Elizabeth River. It had taken nine months for the conversion, and Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan, was impatient to strike at the blockading fleet. March 8, 1862 would be theVirginiassea trial, as well as her trial by fire.

北大西洋封锁中队的人，他们疲倦地等待着Virginiato come out, now scrambled to prepare for battle. In the panic of the moment, and with the tide at ebb, several vessels ran aground, including the USS国会和USSMinnesota.

USSCumberland是布坎南的第一个目标。布坎南用枪向木船开火，撞了Cumberlandon her starboard side. The hole below her waterline was large, and the ship immediately began to sink, nearly taking theVirginiawith her. Scores of Union sailors from theCumberlanddied at their guns, or went down with their ship; guns still firing and flags still defiantly flying.

这Virginia释放，慢慢蒸入詹姆斯河。滞留的人国会began to cheer, thinking they had been spared the same horrific fate. That cheer was cut short, however, when they saw that theVirginiahad made her ponderous turn.

这Virginia枯萎的火力扯到USS国会for nearly two hours. With most of the crew dead or wounded, including the commanding officer, the remaining men of the国会surrendered. Enraged at Union shore batteries which continued to fire upon the white flag, Buchanan ordered the国会to be set afire, and then began personally firing back at the shore with a rifle. He quickly became a target on the exposed top deck of theVirginia.Wounded, he turned command over to his Executive Officer, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones, who returned theVirginiato her moorings that evening. Falling darkness and a receding tide had saved the steam frigate USSMinnesotafrom the same fate as the国会和Cumberland.

这mood in Hampton Roads was one of disbelief and for some, resignation. The hope of the Union navy—the USS监视器- 太晚了Virginia在她的系泊。这监视器,一个激进的船由Swedish-American通用电气设计的nius John Ericsson, had been built in just a little over 100 days, thanks to the combined muscle of the Northern iron industry. Launched in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, this strange little ship had only two guns—XI-inch Dahlgrens—housed in her most distinctive feature: a revolving gun turret which sat upon her flat deck. Commanded by Lieutenant John Lorimer Worden, the监视器和crew had left New York bound for Hampton Roads on March 6, 1862. A storm very nearly sank her before they arrived at their destination on the evening of March 8.

这distant sound of booming guns greeted the监视器as she approached the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Nearing Fortress Monroe as darkness fell, the监视器sActing Paymaster, William Keeler, recalled that as the监视器drew closer to the scene, civilian vessels “were leaving like a covey of frightened quails & their lights danced over the water in all directions.”

Worden immediately received orders to protect the groundedMinnesota, still trapped on Hampton Flats. The burning国会provided an eerie backdrop to the fevered activities in Hampton Roads, along with the “considerable noise” floating across the water from Confederate celebrations at Sewell’s Point. Union crews struggled in vain to tow theMinnesota安全。从国会撞了Minnesotathroughout the evening.

午夜之后，火焰的火焰国会reached the ship’s powder magazine and the whole of Hampton Roads was treated to a horrific fireworks display. Despite being over two miles from the dying vessel, the explosion was so intense it “seemed almost to lift us out of the water,” William Keeler wrote. It was felt for miles around.

Just after dawn on March 9, the men of theVirginia藏在一顿丰盛的早餐中，每个人的威士忌酒都会变得更加喜庆。相反，监视器精疲力尽的船员坐在泊位上，坐在泊位上，吃硬饼和烤牛肉罐头，用咖啡将其洗净。他们中的许多人已经清醒了24小时以上。

那天清晨，强烈的雾推迟了Virginia‘s assault upon the strandedMinnesota,so it was not until 8:00 a.m. that theVirginiawas able to approach her prey. TheVirginia‘s crew saw what appeared to be “a shingle floating in the water, with a gigantic cheesebox rising from its center” sitting alongside the frigate. Confederates who had been following the Northern newspapers knew that this cheesebox must be the anticipated Union ironclad. TheVirginia‘s first shot went through theMinnesota上午8:30之前不久的索具监视器&rquo;s crew braced for battle inside of their untested, experimental vessel.

沃登移动了监视器直接朝向Virginia, placing his ship between theVirginia和她的猎物。在Virginia，沃登（Worden）呼吁所有停止发动机，并将命令发送给炮塔中的机组人员，以“开始开火！”“奶酪盒”找到了她的声音。

A “rattling broadside” which could have easily as come from theMinnesotaas theVirginiasoon slammed into the turret. The gunners quickly realized that both they and the turret were unharmed. They also found that while the turret turned well, it proved difficult tostoprevolving once in motion. Eventually, they let it continue to revolve, firing “on the fly” when the enemy target came in sight.

适用于传统海军战术的惯例也很快也随之而来。尽管这些人小心翼翼地用粉笔标记了炮塔下方的甲板上的固定部分，以指示右舷和港口轴承，弓箭和船尾，但这些标记很快就被汗水所毁灭，汗水遭到了“像雨”的枪手。沃登（Worden）静止不动，他继续以传统方式给出命令。当被问及：“Merrimacbear?” Worden’s reply of “on the starboard beam” was of little use to the turret crew.

For over four hours, both vessels circled one another, testing each other’s armor and looking for vulnerabilities. Finally, just after noon, theVirginia行动的船尾枪直接发射到监视器‘s pilothouse at a range of ten yards, just as Worden was peering out. Stunned and temporarily blinded, Worden gave the order to “shear off” temporarily. He turned command over to his Executive Officer, Samuel Dana Greene, and told his officers, “to [s]ave theMinnesota如果你可以的话。”返回受损的驾驶室，格林观察到Virginiaappeared to be in retreat and abandoned the chase in order to protect theMinnesota. On theVirginia,卡特斯比·琼斯（Catesby Jones）将格林的行动解释为撤退，并相信监视器打破了战斗。随着潮流的退缩，琼斯为戈斯波特（Gosport）开了一门课程，以修复对他的船只造成的损害。

Both sides claimed victory.

尽管3月9日的战斗本身在很大程度上是平坦的，但该行动的长期影响很大。这监视器3月8日晚上及时到达Virginiawould be unable to break the blockade in Hampton Roads. The监视器saved theMinnesotaoutright (so much so that oneMinnesotacrew member had his tombstone designed to look like the监视器—the ship that saved his life), and helped keep theVirginiaforever trapped in Hampton Roads until the Confederate vessel was destroyed by her own crew on May 11, 1862, following the fall of Norfolk to Union forces.

但是，战斗的长期影响更加深远。这俩监视器和theVirginia作为原型的原型，用于吸引其创新设计的船只。联盟的铁克公羊和联盟的炮塔监视器在大西洋，海湾和西方河流中行动。监视器的设计继续是北美和南美以及欧洲的主要沿海和河流军舰，直到世纪之交。虽然铁克肯定存在于监视器和Virginia，他们的1862年3月9日的会议在下一阶段的海军战中迎来了，在那里机器和军备很重要，而战时的优雅木制帆船成为过去的遗物。

这author Herman Melville summed it up rather gloomily:

Yet this was battle, and intense —
超越舰队英勇的冲突；
更致命，更近，平静的“中场风暴”；
No passion; all went on by crank,
Pivot, and screw,
和热量计算。

他以“战争还必须是，但战士/现在是特工……”的宣布结尾。

这样，铁克的第一场战役标志着战争的转变，这将体现在船舶设计，战术策略和所涉及的人的心理中。“没有足够的危险给我们荣耀监视器，给他的妻子。后来的Ironclad的同盟军官简单地说：“该行业的诗歌已经消失。”铁克拉德时代的生活确实会大不相同。