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The
Battle of Hampton Roads,
March 9, 1862: The Clash of Iron
While the Virginia was fighting
the Union fleet, the Monitor entered the Chesapeake Bay.
It was reported that some of the crew of the Monitor
heard the sounds of cannon fire echoing from Hampton Roads.
Unfortunately the Monitor was unable to come to the aid
of the wooden ships of the Union blockade. The Monitor
was forced to wait for a pilot
to arrive to direct the ship through the channels
leading into the James River. By the time the Monitor
arrived at the scene of the battle, the Virginia had
returned to her berth. The still-burning wreck of the Congress
served as an example of the cost of the day's battle to the
Union, and also as a warning to the crew of the Monitor
of what could easily happen to them.
Lieutenant John Worden, the commander
of the Monitor, was ordered to tie his vessel to the
side of the Minnesota and, if the Virginia returned,
to protect the stranded ship at all costs. Early on the morning
of March 9, 1862, the Virginia once again steamed into
Hampton Roads. She was returning to finish her attack on the
Union fleet. As the Virginia approached the Minnesota,
Lieutenant Worden ordered the Monitor to steam forward
and intercept the attacking ironclad.
As the Monitor and the Virginia
came together, both ships opened fire. For the next four hours
the two iron ships fought. Often the Monitor and the
Virginia were close enough to one another that they almost
touched.
Surprisingly, neither ship was able
to cause any serious damage to the other. Their thick iron armor
repelled the cannon shots like stones thrown against a wall.
But the design of the Monitor was superior to that of
the Virginia. Although the Virginia had ten cannon
compared to the Monitor's two cannon, the Monitor
had a great advantage. John Ericsson's idea of a revolving turret
was revolutionary. The turret could turn in a full circle. Regardless
of the direction in which the Monitor was moving, its
cannon could be swung around and fired in any direction. The
Virginia's cannon were set in place along the sides and
ends of the ship. For the crew of the Virginia to aim
its guns, the Virginia had to be steered so that the
cannon were pointing toward its target. The size and slow speed
of the Virginia were also disadvantages. The Confederate
ship was twice the size of the Monitor and moved very
slowly. It required nearly 30 minutes for the Virginia
to turn a full circle, and she could not float in less than
22 feet of water. Also, the Virginia's 170-foot-long
casemate offered the Monitor an easy target. The smaller,
faster Monitor was a much harder target and her shallow
draft of 11 feet made her perfect
for action in the shallows of Hampton Roads.
At the end of the battle, neither ship
had sustained any real damage. The only member of either crew
to be seriously injured was Lieutenant Worden. To allow the
pilot of the Monitor to steer the ship, a small pilot
house was built on the deck just forward of the turret. The
pilot house was an iron box almost four feet high with viewing
slits cut through the sides. During the battle, Lieutenant Worden
observed the action in the pilot house. As the two ships were
firing at one another, a shell from the Virginia struck
the pilot house and the blast through the viewing slit hit Worden
in the face, temporarily blinding him. Soon after Worden's wounding,
both ships withdrew from the battle.
Though the crews of both ships would
later claim that they had won the battle, the four-hour fight
was a draw.
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