SS Monitor is one of rhe mosr famous ships in history, and in early Ma rch 1862 she fou ght in one of m ost important naval battles in American history, the Battle of H amp ton Roads. Funny rhing is-nei ther side won! Just into the second year of the C ivil War, the Confederate Navy ship Virginia attacked a group of US Navy ships that were anchored in H ampton Roads, a roadstead off No rfo lk, Virginia. The battle las ted into the next day, but d uring the night, the Union naval ship USS Monitor arrived on the scene and engaged the Virginia in a fo ur-hour fight th e next morning. The battle ended in a d raw-so why is ir considered such an imporranr event in our history? Until this time, ships were m ade from CSS Virginia wood and powered by sails, but shipbuilders and (ex-Merrimack) engineers had been experimenting wirh iron for shipbuilding and steam engines fo r power. Both the Monitor and the Virginia were of the new typethey were powered by steam engines and were clad, or covered, with iron plates fo r armor. This was the first time in history two iro nclad steam-powered between ironclads. ships had fought against each o ther in battle, and it changed the way navies around the world built ships and fought wars. After people heard about how neither ship was able to destroy the other, navies stopped building wooden sailing warships and started adding ironclad steamships to their Beets. A roadstead is a place where ships can safely ride ar anchor, usually just outsi de of a harbor or near a m ajor port. Sometimes people refer to the Battle of H ampton Roads as the Monitor vs. the Merrimack. The Merrimack and the Virginia were the same vessel. In April 186 1, rhe Confederate Navy had salvaged the hull of rhe steam fri gate USS Merrimack, which the Federal forces had burn ed to the waterline when they evacuated the No rfolk Navy Yard. They changed the ship's name to Virginia and converted her to an ironclad steamship. USS Monitor sank off the coast of N orth Carolina on 31December1 862. When he heard that she was lost at sea, Grenville Weeks, M onitor's former ship's surgeon, wro te that he hoped that "the work of the Monitor [would] be rem embered, and her story told to our children's children." In the spirit of keeping her sto ry alive, the M ariners' Museum and NOAA's M onitor National Marine Sanctuary recently hosted a juried youth art competition on the Battle of H ampton Roads. Kids ages 4-18 from across the country submitted 125 pieces of art, and prizes were awarded in three age gro ups. Calvin Nesbitt, 16, ofYorktown, Virginia, took firsr place in the 13-18 year-old category. See his "Clash of rhe Ironclads" (lefr) on display with o ther works from the competi tion at the M ariners' Museum in N ewport News, Virginia, thro ugh 15 August 2010 or online at www.mariner. org. Congratulations Cal vin! To learn more abo ut the Battle of Hampton Roads and rhe Monitor shipwreck, visit the USS Monitor Center at the museum at 100 M useum Dr., Newport News, VA 23 606; or visit the N OAA M omitor Narional Marine Sanctuary web site at http://moni toir. noaa.gov. ;t
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Clash of the lronclacds by Calvin Nesbitt, age 16