The Union Monitor and Confederate Virginia were not the world's first ironclad ships. However, the battle in which the two faced each other at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, marked a major turning point in naval warfare. When they met near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Union iron-plated gunboats had already been plying the waters of Western Theater rivers for some weeks. But no two such ships had ever faced each other in combat. After several hours of close combat, Monitor disengaged and headed for the safety of shallower waters, its commander temporarily blinded by a shell that exploded n
The Union Monitor and Confederate Virginia were not the world's first ironclad ships. However, the battle in which the two faced each other at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, marked a major turning point in naval warfare. When they met near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Union iron-plated gunboats had already been plying the waters of Western Theater rivers for some weeks. But no two such ships had ever faced each other in combat. After several hours of close combat, Monitor disengaged and headed for the safety of shallower waters, its commander temporarily blinded by a shell that exploded near the viewing slit of the pilothouse. Virginia, short on ammunition and conscious of the retreating tide, retired to Norfolk. The first battle between steam-powered, ironclad warships had ended in a draw.
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Keywords: 1800s, 1860s, 1862, 19th, abraham, american, battle, bay, century, chesapeake, civil, clad, confederacy, confederate, fort, gunboats, iron, lincoln, march, monitor, plated, ships, sumter, troops, union, vessels, virginia, virgnia, war
