The Iron Ships
On March 8, 1862, almost a year after the start of the American Civil War, a strange warship ruled the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia. Shells fired at the warship bounced off of her harmlessly. The ship was a Confederate ironclad called the Virginia. In a short time it had destroyed two of the wooden Union ships that were blockading the southern port at the mouth of the James River. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade. The Confederacy had hoped to reduce the North’s great naval advantage. The Confederate ironclad had been built around the engines and hull of a captured Union ship, the Merrimac, and most people called the ship by that name instead of the Virginia. Above her waterline, ten heavy guns were mounted behind thick sloping iron plates. The Merrimac dominated the day and probably could have destroyed the rest of the fleet at Hampton Roads, but night was coming. The ironclad sailed back to Norfolk, and the Southerners were certain they had a weapon to destroy all of the Union’s wooden fleet. When the morning of March 9 broke, the Merrimac returned to Hampton Roads. But now she found a union ironclad, the Monitor , waiting for her. The Monitor moved toward the Merrimac , and they exchanged fire as their guns roared, and a pall of dense smoke visible for miles hung over the battling ships. After two hours, the firing ended. The Merrimac withdrew to Norfolk, while the Monitor remained at Hampton Roads. Neither ship had won, but now the North had an ironclad to protect its wooden ships. The Union fleet was saved. This battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. The major significance of the battle was that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships. The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac began a new chapter in naval warfare. The battle received worldwide attention, and it had immediate effects on navies around the world. It meant all navies had to abandon their wooden ships and begin to build ironclads. The preeminent naval powers, Great Britain and France, halted further construction of wooden-hulled ships, and others followed suit. A modern era of shipbuilding had begun!
Based on the passage, what can the reader infer about the importance of the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac?
