The Battle That Almost Never happened or The Virginia and The Monitor Finally Square Off
History teachers tend to just barely nick the surface when discussing The Battle of Hampton Roads, and the lower the grade the class is being taught in the tinier that nick's going to be. When our substitute teacher got called out on both misidentifying the Virginia and misspelling Merrimack in that long ago fifth grade class, our 'study' of the battle was very likely a ten minute rehash of the same lesson taught to every elementary school student who has ever studied U.S. History. 'Two ships with metal sides fought each other, neither one sank the other one, wooden ships were then obsolete, The End. This WILL be on the test'.
One very important and always unmentioned little tidbit...the battle between Virginia and Monitor almost never happened because The Monitor almost didn't make it to Hampton Roads in the first place. The weather almost sank her before she got there.. I know...I know...I said The Monitor's crew must have had calm seas on their voyage from Brooklyn to Hampton Roads., but that's not the way it happened.
The Monitor departed Brooklyn (Then a separate city from New York) on March 6th , under tow but with steam up to run fans, bilge pumps, and the like. Monitor's crew could testify that their trip wasn't exactly an excursion cruise...she was towed through two days worth of the heavy weather that winter...even late winter...in the Atlantic is famous for. She was likely rolling and pitching non stop, with seas regularly washing all the way across her decks, making for a cold, rough, wet, miserable, and downright dangerous trip. The Monitor only had about a foot and a half of freeboard, so any seas higher than flat, dead calm could be a hazard. There was a gap between her deck and the turret and she had boiler air intakes, exhaust uptakes, and vents at or near deck level, not all of which could be closed off. Any sea or swell higher than two feet or so would sweep all the way across her deck and water would, and did, find a way inside her hull. Probably the only things that saved her on her maiden voyage were not running into any real storms, like a classic nor'easter, and her pumps being able to keep up with what water that she did ship. Trust me, she did take on water during her trip, enough to make it a near thing at that. This was, of course, also a foreshadowing of things to come a bit less than a year down the road.
 |
| Map of Hampton Roads during the two days of the battle. |
According to the action report submitted by Lt. Samuel Greene, her executive officer, Monitor was towed into Hampton Roads at 9 PM on March 8th. My bet is that Jones had her cut loose from her tow, and proceed under her own power to fortress Monroe. (NOTE...some sources say she actually anchored about 10 miles east of Fortress Monroe, at Horseshoe Shoals, but I lean towards her anchoring at Fortress Monroe, near the Roanoke, where her captain John Worden, was given a overview of the days events.) Congress was still burning like a torch at 9PM, painting the western sky orange and making it pretty obvious that something had gone on before their arrival. Worden was briefed on the loss of Cumberland and Congress as well as being told of Minnesota's plight, He was also told that his mission was to cover Minnesota as her crew tried to refloat her. Worden reboarded Monitor, then they immediately took aboard a pilot familiar with Hampton Roads various shoals and shallows and got under way for Minnesota's position. They got under way at about 10PM and reached Minnesota at about 11:30PM.
This is one of the points where stories diverged greatly...Capt. Von Brunt, of Minnesota noted Monitor's time of arrival as 2AM in his action report. Lt Greene...Monitor's exec...however, noted that Worden went aboard Minnesota to find out what was needed, then returned. This discrepancy could well be one of terms. Capt Van Brunt noted that Monitor arrived along side of Minnesota at 2AM, but Monitor could well have been standing off at anchor until that time. Monitor could have arrived in the vicinity of USS Minnesota at about 11:30 PM, then stood off a ways from the grounded frigate from 11:30 to 2AM.. Worden could have logged her time of arrival as the time she anchored (He could have then been taken to Minnesota by ship's boat) while Van Brunt could have noted the time of arrival as when she actually came along side. After coming alongside at 2AM Monitor still backed off for another hour or so while Minnesota's crew tried to get her off the mud bank. At any rate the elements of the history making battle to follow were all in place by 4AM, when Van Brunt gave up on trying to float the Minnesota, and Monitor anchored along side until dawn.
As for Virginia she broke loose from the battle with Minnesota at about 7PM...it was dark by then, and her pilot had to feel his way to and along the South Channel back to the Elizabeth River and Gosport Navy Yard. She still got a few licks in on the way back though, firing a parting broadside at Minnesota, and trading broadsides with (And doing some damage to) St Lawrence. She was at Gosport by the time Monitor arrived.
The crews of Minnesota and Monitor anticipated Virginia's return at sunrise or just a bit after (That's why Monitor had been sent to cover the Minnesota in the first place) and just as the crews of both ships expected, she reappeared at the mouth of the Elizabeth River at a bit after daybreak...around 6AM according to Minnesota's Captain Van Brunt. Van Brunt had his ship's drummer beat to quarters (Battle Stations) but watched as the Virginia headed out towards Fortress Monroe, following the channel. He knew it'd be at least another hour before they engaged, so he had his crew secure from quarters to grab breakfast, then resume battle stations as she approached. She ran east along the south channel, past an area known as 'The Rip Raps', then, according to several witnesses, swung west into the north channel, hugging the edge of the channel and approaching Minnesota slowly from the east .
Minnesota opened up on Virginia with her stern pivot gun when she closed to with-in a mile, Virginia answered with her bow gun but neither caused any damage to the other worth mentioning. Monitor was close in to Minnesota,on her starboard side between the frigate and the shore line, with steam already up and her crew already at battle stations. Van Brunt signaled to her to engage the Virginia...Worden rang for all ahead, and the Monitor eased out from behind Minnesota, slowly picking up speed, making for the Virginia with water beginning to curl white at her bow.
 |
| This is possibly what it looked like from Monitor's deck as they approached Virginia. The turret would have been turned to one side or the other because she couldn't fire directly across her bow for fear of hitting her own pilothouse. Pic's from art.com |
There are several accounts of the battle on record, including several letters written by The Monitor's paymaster, William Keeler, to his wife, providing us with a blow by blow eyewitness account of the battle. The official action reports of all of the ships involved have also been preserved along with interviews and articles for magazines that were written and published after the war. The articles seem to go into far more colorful detail than the official reports, but the reports are likely to be far more accurate as to what happened and when it happened. The letters from Keeler to his wife are absolute gems. Of course most of Keeler's account is written as an observer from below decks though he and the ships doctor were on deck for the beginning of the battle. This is in fact how Keeler heard some somewhat critical remarks from Minnesota's crew. Keeler noted in a letter to his wife that the Minnesota's crew had far more respect for the Virginia's ability to turn them into kindling that they had for the Monitor's ability to prevent that event from occurring, and it all boiled down to size and number of mounted guns. Virginia after all, was tiny and only mounted two guns...how could she possibly take on and defeat the Confederate Navy's fire breathing behemoth? Minnesota's crew was, of course, in for a very pleasant surprise.
.
Keeler and the ship's doctor were on deck as they eased from behind the Minnesota and made for Virginia. Jones was trying to maneuver Virginia into position to swing broadside to Minnesota and do the same thing to her that they'd done to Congress the day before...pump broadside after broadside into her until she either surrendered or was a burning wreck.
Virginia opened fire first...Keeler described a puff of smoke from Virginia and then, seconds later, the screaming howl of a big shell passing overhead and slamming into the side of Minnesota. It was at that point that Worden advised them very strongly to go below, and Keeler noted that they didn't need a second invitation, but climbed the tower (Referring to the turret) and then down the main hatchway and into the hull.
Minnesota answered Virginia with a screaming broadside that howled it's way over Monitor on the way to Virginia. This had had the same basic effect as the broadsides she'd fired the day before...huge splashes and a lot of noise, with a couple of hits that did noting but careen loudly off of Virginia's sloped, armored sides. Virginia answered with her rifled bow gun, managing to hit Minnesota amidships, the shell tearing through the Chief Engineer's stateroom and the engineers' mess room, exploding in the boatswain's room and starting a fire that the Minnesota's crew managed to extinguish before it caused major damage.
Minnesota answered Virginia with a screaming broadside that howled it's way over Monitor on the way to Virginia. This had had the same basic effect as the broadsides she'd fired the day before...huge splashes and a lot of noise, with a couple of hits that did noting but careen loudly off of Virginia's sloped, armored sides. Virginia answered with her rifled bow gun, managing to hit Minnesota amidships, the shell tearing through the Chief Engineer's stateroom and the engineers' mess room, exploding in the boatswain's room and starting a fire that the Minnesota's crew managed to extinguish before it caused major damage.
 | ||||
| Interesting if inaccurate (Position-wise) aerial view of the beginning stages of the battle. Virginia never got anywhere near this close to Minnesota...she would have been hard aground if she had. The two ironclads didn't square off at this close range until late into the battle. Also, Virgina swung so her broadside was facing Minnesota to bring as many of her guns to bear as possible. Still an awesome painting,, perspective and quality wise though! Painting's from altontobey.com |
 |
| This is a much closer representation of the range between the Virginia and the Minnesota, and was about the range between the two ironclads during a good portion of the battle. The only thing that's off...Monitor appears to be firing over her own bow. |
Worden's goal was to engage Virginia and draw her as far away from the Minnesota as possible, then hopefully drive her off altogether if not sink her. As Monitor closed on Virginia, Worden told his gun crews to hold off '...Until I give the word, then to be be cool & deliberate, to take sure aim & not waste a shot." They took him at his word, closing to within a third of a mile before opening fire at about 9:45 AM, then closing rapidly, placing themselves between Virginia and Minnesota, and making good use of her huge advantage in maneuverability. Virginia opened up with a couple of broadsides early on as the Monitor passed close in and they had absolutely no effect on her... most of Virginia’s shot was canister and grape shot which was less than useless against Monitor's armor.
Sharpshooters on board Virginia tried to fire into Monitor's gun ports, targeting the gunners them selves, but met with no success. Monitor's gun crews seldom exposed themselves outside of the gun ports for this very reason (Other than one Monitor gunner who stuck his head out of one of the gun ports, then ducked back in, grinning as he shook his head in amazement, and exclaimed that 'The damn fools are firing canister at us!' Canister is several small iron balls contained in a metal canister, closed off at each end with wooden or light metal disks...in essence a giant shot gun shell which is of absolutely no use what so ever against an armored vessel.).
Some reports state that the Monitor's gun crews tried using the port covers (Called 'Pendulums' by the crew) early on but that the things required the entire gun crew to operate them. This was abandoned early in the battle and the 'Turn the turret away, fire on the fly' tactic that I posted about earlier was employed. Virginia's exec also mentioned Monitor using this very tactic..firing on the fly, then rotating the turret so that the gun ports faced away from Virginia. He questioned how they could take accurate aim in the few seconds that the guns were visible, then noted that Virginia was a big target. He also noted that Virginia's deep draft and lack of maneuverability made her difficult to handle, and that Monitor moved around her at will.
 |
| This has always been one of my favorite images from the battle, and also accurately illustrates the range between the Minnesota and the ironclads. From history.navy.mil |
Early on in the battle, (Most sources say about 10AM) Virginia proved just how much of a disadvantage her deep draft and sluggish handling was when she managed to find a sand bar and ground herself, allowing Monitor to pretty much have her way with her. As Virginia worked herself loose, Monitor took a position where none of Virginia's guns could be brought to bear and pounded away at the Confederate ironclad while Minnesota also blasted away at her, probably with one of her rifled pivot guns. Virginia was in a far more precarious position that her opponents realized because her armor hadn’t been extended down but about 3 feet below her waterline. The expenditure of coal and shot over the last two days had lightened her just enough to expose her wooden hull at the waterline, but not enough to keep her from grounding. Had Monitor's crew seen this, they could have lobbed a couple of shells into her at the waterline and ended the battle right there. Virginia's crew knew this and they were sweating bullets. They tried backing off and found themselves stuck solidly. They brought anything that would burn faster and hotter than coal to the boiler room and threw it into the fireboxes, also tying down the safety valves to give them more steam pressure. This was a dangerous tactic for sure, but they had a bigger problem about a hundred yards away from them.
 |
| Photograph of a very good photorealiatic painting of the battle..this well could have been the scene when Monitor was aground during the early stages of the battle. Though one of her boats is shown here, both were actually shot away the day before during the battle with the Cumberland. Pic's from history.navy.mil |
The Virginia's prop churned at full reverse, churning up clouds of mud, for about fifteen minutes that probably felt more like about fifteen hours before she popped free, and not a second too soon at that... While Monitor's crew hadn't noticed the exposed sliver of wooden hull, they were able to pound her from point blank range and send shell after shell into the same area on Virginia's casemate, nearly breaching it. The wooden backing was pushed in as much as two to three inches and the armor was cracked. Another round or two at the same spot would have sent a shell through her armor and into her gun deck. As it was, her after gun crews were knocked to the deck, and several were bleeding from the ears and nose just from the concussion of the hits.
At that point in the battle a frustrated Jones decided that if they couldn't damage Monitor with gun fire, they'd try to ram her. That would actually be easier said than done with Monitor’s far superior maneuverability...remember, this wasn't a PT boat we're talking about here. All maneuvers were executed slowly, and she had the acceleration of...well...a cruise ship. It took 30 minutes for them to maneuver into a position to ram (With Monitor pounding away at them the whole time) and when they finally got into position and started their run for her from about a half mile out, Monitor had plenty of time to react., Worden saw what was up, and likely told his helmsman to put the helm over HARD, as he also likely rang for full ahead . Instead of a solid blow, Virginia's bow glanced off of them. Unbeknown to Lt Jones, Virginia had left her iron ram embedded in the hull of the now sunken Cumberland. By ramming Monitor they actually damaged their own vessel far more than they did their opponent. Virginia's bow was crushed in a bit, and she developed a minor, but aggravating leak forward. Monitor suffered what was basically cosmetic damage...a bit of wrinkled armor just above the waterline on her armored raft. The impact threw a couple of her crew to the deck, bounced a few loose items around, and did nothing whatsoever to slow Monitor down at all.
Jones attempted to organize a boarding party to go aboard the Monitor and disable her turret, obscure the view from the pilot house, or both...Worden had anticipated just such a move and ordered one gun loaded with canister as well as ordering the helm over, and ringing for engines, moving smartly (For that era anyway) away from Virginia. This is when he found he had a problem of his own...both guns were loaded with solid shot...one gun was fired, and seeing the damage to Virginia's armor, Worden ordered the second gun to fire. The primer snapped, but the gun didn't fire...one round (Or more likely, the powder charge) was stuck halfway down the barrel of the big gun. the shell, of course, was stuck as well but that was a moot point. (Again, remember all of the big guns during the civil war, and for decades afterward, were muzzle loaders). With the powder charge not rammed home, the primer couldn't ignite it, and the gun wouldn't fire. The other gun had been fired, so they were now without a functional weapon. Monitor's guns wouldn't depress enough to just let the shot roll out of the barrel. On top of that, they were also low on shot and powder in the turret. Time, as the old fella says, to back up and regroup.
This was around 11AM...just over two hours into the battle. Monitor hauled off into shallow water to refill her shot lockers from her magazine, and to try to clear the jammed gun.. According to contemporary press reports she had to 'let her guns cool', She was, of course, within an inch or so...literally...of doing Virginia real damage just before this happened as her cannon fire had almost breached Virginia's armor.
While Monitor was temporarily out of action, Minnesota and Virginia traded a few more broadsides none of which did any damage..to Minnesota anyway. Virginia did hit and sink the tug Dragon, which was assisting in trying to refloat the Minnesota. Monitor's crew cleared her jammed cannon, replenished her ready supply of shot and powder, and she boiled back into the fight, announcing her return with a couple of quick shots that only blanged off of the Virginia's sloped sides and added to the already pounding headaches her gun crews had likely developed.
The two ironclads then dug in, fighting at extremely close range throughout the rest of the battle...from 50 yards to as little as 10-20 yards, and at times it was reported that they were all but touching. Both were firing at each other as fast as their gun crews could run the guns in, reload, run 'em out, and fire but as discussed in a previous post, what was considered rapid fire back then would be dawdling now...each gun if well handled could get a shot off about every 7-10, minutes.
 |
| A good, accurate view of the battle when it got down, dirty, and close range. Note that the Virginia's decks are awash, as they actually would have been...that's how she was designed.. Virginia's flag staff was actually shot away early on, and her battle ensign was flown from her shell riddled funnel for a good portion of the battle. Pic is from A S Barnes and Company, from an 1871 wood engraving. |
At about 11:30 Worden decided to give out a little payback, and ram Virginia, trying to hit her stern in an attempt to disable her rudder or screw . He ordered the helm over, rang for full speed ahead, and ordered the crew to brace for impact. Like Jones had with Virginia, Worden hauled off from Virginia to give himself some running space, then headed right for her stern...I can almost hear him telling the helmsman something to the effect of 'Get her dead astern...see if you can push her rudder slam into her screw' and he was close to doing just that...with her superior maneuverability, she could match any evasive action Virginia tried to take, and she was within yards of Virginia when her own steering malfunctioned and she swung wide with no assistance from the helm, missing Virginia's stern by a few feet.
At that range someone was bound to get lucky before it was over, and one of Virginia's gunners did just that as Monitor passed close astern. There were three people in Monitor's tiny pilot house...Worden; the pilot (Who was directing the helmsman around areas too shallow for Monitor to navigate); and Quartermaster /helmsman Peter Helms. Worden wormed his way close to the view port (Likely cursing all things rudder and steering) as they passed astern of Virginia. At the same moment, Virginia's stern gun...a 7 inch Brooke rifled gun...let go with a round that struck the forward port corner of the pilot house and exploded just as Worden was looking through the view port. He was immediately blinded but still gave orders for the helm to be put over to starboard and for them to withdraw to assess damage. He also had Lt Green...his exec...called to the pilot house to take over command. Worden was assisted to his cabin, and became the worst injured among both crews, blinded permanently in one eye..
Green and a couple of other sailors assisted Worden to his cabin, then they began to asses the damage to their ship. Meanwhile, over on Virginia, Jones watched Monitor pull away and decided she'd left the fight. He had a quick conference with his officers and gun crews. The gun crews were beyond exhausted. The tide was going out so they weren't going to get any closer to Minnesota. And they still had that pesky leak at the bow...the decision was made to head back for Gosport for repairs.
Monitor hadn't quit the fight though. But the fight had quit her. When Green returned to the pilot house, he found Virginia steaming away towards Norfolk. They fired a couple more shots at her at long range but didn't pursue. The time was about 12:15PM. The first battle between ironclad warships...and one of the most important in the history of navel warfare...was over.
SO...Who won the thing?
That question's been debated and argued and generally chewed on for 150 years. The aforementioned history classes tell you that the battle was a draw and technically, the battle itself was a draw. Neither ship was put out of action, and both actually withdrew.
Virginia won the 'Who caused the most damage' game by a very narrow margin because of that well timed, very lucky shot that hit Monitor's pilot house. Monitor did withdraw from the battle because of this hit and because her captain believed her steering gear to be damaged. Worden was also seriously injured in the battle, and had the dubious distinction of being the only member of either crew to suffer serious injury during the clash between the two ironclads. So, as for the battle itself:
Monitor withdrew temporarily to assess battle damage and so her crew could tend to Worden and command could be transferred to Green. There was full intent to return to the fray.
Virginia withdrew because Lt Jones, thought Monitor had withdrawn, and because her crew was exhausted. She had battle damage as well and was taking on water and the actual reason for their sortie...destruction of Minnesota...was once again impossible due to low tide.
Virginia was the only one of the two taking on water...but she actually inflicted that damage upon herself when Jones rammed Monitor, not realizing that Virginia's ram had been broken off and left in Cumberland's hull the previous day. She also had far heavier damage than Monitor...her boats, ventilators, rails, and flag staff had been shot away, her stack was riddled, and two of her guns had been damaged. The majority of that damage occurred the day before, however, when she was the victor by a huge margin, and none of the damage affected her ability to fight
SO (And part of this is my opinion) while neither ship was put out of action IMO the tactical victory goes to Virginia by a very very tiny margin, and only because of the injury to Worden.
Strategically, now...that's a different story.. Monitor won that one hands down. First off, she accomplished her primary and immediate mission, that of protecting Minnesota. While Virginia did manage to damage Minnesota, the damage was fairly insignificant and was more of an inconvenience to her engineering officers than a danger to the ship or a hindrance to her ability to wage war. To strip the military terms away, most of the damage was done to the engineers' living spaces and the Boatswain's Rm, which contained equipment needed for maintenance of the ship. When the Monitor and Virginia went their separate ways, Minnesota was intact though still aground.
More importantly, Virginia failed at her primary goal...that of breaking the blockade of Hampton Roads. Though the two ships never met in battle again, Monitor's presence in Hampton Roads kept Virginia at bay, though Virginia did try to lure the Union ironclad into another engagement several times (As will be touched on in more detail later). The Union blockade was not only maintained, it was strengthened, one of the factors leading to the Confederate retreat from Hampton Roads only a few months after the battle.
Another major win for the Union forces was political. Though England was officially neutral, they supported the CSA with materials and warships and there was hope among the Confederate Government, that they, along with France, would enter the war on the side of The CSA. The failure of Virginia to break the blockade, and the retaking of Hampton Roads by the U.S. was one of several factors (Most of them political rather than military) that prevented this from happening.
***********************Notes, Links, and Stuff**************************
The Monitor could have won it hands down if The Department Of The Navy had allowed them to use full powder charges in their guns. Those big 11” Dahlgrens were normally fired with a 30 pound powder charge, giving them a range of 3650 yards. The combination of two big Dahlgrens and a small confined space had never been tried out in battle before, though, and the debacle aboard The Princeton was well remembered. The powers that be really didn't want to destroy their own super weapon due to a gun turret explosion so they ordered the powder charge reduced by 50%, to 15 pounds. This increased the safety factor markedly, but it also reduced the muzzle velocity proportionately. Even with the reduced 15 pound powder charge they were pushing the heavy oak backing of The Virginia's armor in, and cracking the armor itself. If Monitor's crew had been using full powder charges in their guns their shells would have very likely punched trough Virginia's armor and wreaked deadly havoc on her gun deck.
She also had another chance to sink Virginia. Had anyone noticed that her wooden hull was exposed forward because of expenditure of coal and ammunition, and had they been able to depress one of their guns enough to put a shell through her at the waterline, one of those big 11” shells would have torn a door sized hole in Virginia's hull, putting her on the bottom in just a few minutes.
By the same token, if Virginia hadn't left her ram in Cumberland's hull and had been so equipped when she rammed Monitor, she could have probably holed the Union ironclad below the waterline. Monitor wasn't armored below her 'raft'. Her hull was constructed of ¾ inch iron plates, riveted together. If Virginia had still had her ram, and managed to maneuver to hit Monitor below the waterline (Admittedly two BIG ifs) with 3200 or so tons of momentum behind her, it's very likely likely that she would have holed Monitor and sunk her.
Had Virginia's crew been able to board Monitor, they could have disabled her turret by jamming wedges into the opening between the turret and the deck, preventing the turret from rotating (The technical term would be 'Jammed in Train'). If they were really lucky, the turret would be jammed with the guns aimed over the bow...preventing them from firing at all. Virginia then could have stood off at an angle where the guns couldn’t be brought to bear, and pounded Monitor. Any Monitor sailors coming on deck to remove the wedges would have been easy pickings for a sharp shooter or two on Virginia. Monitor would have been reduced to maneuvering to bring her guns to bear. With her huge advantage in maneuverability, though, the question would have to be asked, just how much of an advantage would this have been for Virginia?
* * * * *
With each gun firing at a rate of 1 shot every 5-7 minutes or so each gun should have gotten off about 30 rounds in the three and a half hour battle. This gives us a more realistic idea of just how many shots each of the ironclads got off during any given portion of the battle. During the fifteen minutes that The Virginia was aground, for example, Monitor's two gun crews could have gotten 3-4 shots off at the most...and they still nearly breached Virginia's armor with them. Virginia had more guns, and was capable of getting off more shots, but just how accurate were her gun crews? We're going to have to do some serious guesstimating here. Only 6 guns, at the most, and more than likely 2 to four most of the time, could could have been brought to bear. Also there were at least 45 minutes when little or no firing was being done. (When she was aground, and when she was maneuvering to ram). That brings us down to 2 hours and 45 minutes available to fire on Monitor. We'll be generous and say the average was three guns able to draw a bead on Monitor, and that each gun crew was firing one round every 7 minutes. They would have gotten off 70 shots. But how accurate were they. That we know, thanks to all the documentation that was saved. Monitor was hit 22 times during the course of the battle, or just a shade under one third of the estimated number of shots actually fired at her...not too shabby considering the changing positions of the ships and the Monitor's maneuverability. As for just how much damage was done...very little with one exception. Most of the damage done was cosmetic (And still visible on Monitor's recovered turret, 150 years later). The one exception was, of course, the round that hit Monitor's pilot house.
As for Monitor, I'm going to go out on a limb and say her accuracy was probably a bit higher due to her ability to get in close to the Virginia. Also, from the research I did, the 'Shoot on the Fly' tactic of firing while the turret was in motion didn't affect her accuracy all that much.
Just for comparisons sake...during WWII, the 5” guns mounted on destroyers and destroyer escorts could maintain a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, and a good gun crew could hit 22 rounds per minute.
* * * * *
Most of The Virginia's Gun crew were also Norfolk Volunteer Firemen. (the term 'Firefighters' wouldn't be coined for over a century). They were members of the United Fire Company, and they and their captain, Thomas Kevill, volunteered en masse for Army service and were known as the United Artillery Company 'E' of the 41st Artillery. They volunteered to man Virginia's guns just two days before the battle.
Thomas Kevill survived the war to become the first Chief of the salaried Norfolk Fire Department
* * * * *
One humorous exchange on board Virginia came as she was preparing to ram Monitor.
Virginia's executive officer was coming down the ladder way from the spar deck (The top of the casemate) and saw one of the gun crews standing around doing nothing. He asked the gun crew's captain...a noncom named Eggleston...why he wasn't firing at Monitor.
Eggleston replied that their powder supply was beginning to get a bit low...they'd been firing for better then two hours at that point...and that: 'I can do her just about as much damage by snapping my fingers at her every two and a half minutes!'
Jones simple said something to the effect of 'Never mind...we're getting ready to ram her anyway.
* * * * *
Lt Green, Monitor's executive Officer, and acting captain after Worden was injured, was roundly condemned by many for not pushing forward with the attack on Virginia after Worden was injured. I've got mixed feelings on this (As if I'm a learned Naval tactician!)
but I tend to agree with Green. His captain had been seriously injured, and he had an undetermined amount of damage to his ship. One of the first things an officer should do upon assuming command in the middle of an action is to determine what his exact situation is, either by being given an update or by checking it out himself himself. Worden thought Monitor's steering had been damaged, and communicated this to Greene...in fact, Worden was the one who gave the order to haul away to access damage. By the time Greene assisted Worden to his cabin and determined that Monitor still had steering, and was otherwise undamaged, Virginia was heading back towards Gosport. Monitor's assigned task was not to sink the Virginia...it was to protect Minnesota. which she had done successfully. This was an ongoing task after the battle...Minnesota was still hard aground. Anyone think that, once the tide came back in, Virginia wouldn't have taken full advantage of the situation had Greene left Minnesota unprotected and headed for Fortress Monroe?
Greene saw to it that Worden was transferred to another vessel so he could be taken ashore and provided further medical treatment, then returned to Minnesota, where he stayed until she was refloated early the next morning.
* * * * *
It was obvious that Minnesota's crew had been trying diligently to refloat her when Monitor anchored along side. All manner of shipboard and personal items had been thrown overboard to lighten her, and were floating alongside when Monitor arrived.
* * * * *
The Battle between the Virginia and The Monitor was the death knell of the wooden warship. The British Navy canceled all construction of wooden warships immediately after the battle, as did several other nations. The battle ended the era of the wooden broadside warship, and kicked off the era of the turreted navel gun, and the battleship.
* * * * *
The battle, and it two combatants, are remembered out in Moab, Utah, 762 miles from the nearest ocean, and 2,096 miles almost due west from Hampton Roads...and it's remembered in a big way. There are a pair of big buttes (Mesas) near Moab that, from a distance, resemble the Virginia's casemate and the Monitor's turret. The pair of buttes are named 'The Monitor and The Merrimac' using the popular names for the ironclads, and yep, misspelling 'Merrimack' The buttes overlook Sevenmile Canyon, off of State Highway 313, northwest of Moab. both tower 600 feet above the surrounding terrain.
* * * * *
The battle, and it two combatants, are remembered out in Moab, Utah, 762 miles from the nearest ocean, and 2,096 miles almost due west from Hampton Roads...and it's remembered in a big way. There are a pair of big buttes (Mesas) near Moab that, from a distance, resemble the Virginia's casemate and the Monitor's turret. The pair of buttes are named 'The Monitor and The Merrimac' using the popular names for the ironclads, and yep, misspelling 'Merrimack' The buttes overlook Sevenmile Canyon, off of State Highway 313, northwest of Moab. both tower 600 feet above the surrounding terrain.
 |
| Monitor and Merrimac Buttes, near Moab, Utah. Pic by Dave Beedon. For a look at Mr Beedon's pics of the area...this is beautiful if desolate country..click here: http://www.pbase.com/listorama/pl_ut_moab2_monmer |
********************************LINKS********************************
There is all kind of info about The Battle of Hampton Roads out there, and I'm not going to even try to pretend that any of what I posted is new, uncovered info. What I did do is find a slew of awesome sites for the history-minded among us.
First off, and once again, The CSS Virginia Home Page:
Especially take note of the links to the left, most especially 'Ironclad Battle'. Click that link to get commentary and action reports from both days of the battle.
* * * *
In the same vein:
Action reports from every major ship involved in the battle from both days and on both sides
* * * *
A very very detailed write-up on the battle between the Monitor and the Virginia, complete with some beautiful illustrations.
* * * *
A very concise time-line of the battle from The Mariner's Museum in Newport News. The Mariners' Museum site is awesome in and of itself. The Museum is even better in person.
* * * *
William Keeler's letters to his wife giving a blow by blow account of the battle, from the NOVA site. Definitely worth the read! Links to a page with info about the letters and William Keeler on the upper part of the page.
