Vintage print depicting the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack in the US Civil War - first ever naval battle between ironclads.
Vintage lithograph print depicting the Battle of Hampton Roads, often known as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (or Merrimac), during the American Civil War. The battle, the most famous naval engagement of the war, was fought on March 8 + 9 1862 off Sewell's Point at Hampton Roads, Virginia, where the Elizabeth + Nansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay. It was part of a Confederate bid to break a Union blockade which had cut off Virginia's largest cities Norfolk and Richmond from international trade. The engagement was significant because it was the world's first meeting in combat of two ironclad warships - the Confederate CSS Virginia (in reality the salvaged federal frigate USS Merrimack which had been fitted with iron armour and renamed the Virginia) and the smaller Union USS Monitor. On March 8 the Virginia destroyed two conventional wooden Union ships and a third, the USS Minnesota, ran aground (burning offshore in the print to the left of the fighting ironclads). The next day the Virginia returned to finish off the Minnesota but was met by the Monitor which had arrived overnight and took position to defend the Minnesota. The ironclads fought for around three hours but neither inflicted fatal damage and there was no clear winner. The battle won worldwide publicity and marked a new era in naval warfare - leading naval powers Britain and France halted construction of wooden-hulled ships and others soon followed. Print circa 1889 by Kurz & Allison.
Size: 7360px × 5186px
Photo credit: © Archive Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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