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Monitor vs. Merrimack. The Civil War at Sea. Anaconda at Sea. Directly after shells were first fired at Fort Sumpter , President Lincoln ordered the navy to blockade southern ports. Civil War Naval Strength - North. The United States Navy had approximately 90 ships - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Monitor vs. MerrimackThe Civil War at Sea
Anaconda at SeaDirectly after shells
were first fired at Fort Sumpter, President Lincoln ordered the navy to blockade southern ports
Civil War Naval Strength - NorthThe United States
Navy had approximately 90 ships
By the end of the war the North had approximately 600 ships in service
Civil War Naval Strength - SouthThe Confederates
knew they could never match the north in terms of numbers of ships Lack of industry &
manpowerAt the start of the
war the Confederacy had approximately 12 sea going vessels
C.S.S. Governor Moore
Civil War Naval Strength - SouthConfederates
secretly order “fast cruisers” from English shipyards
The South decided to plate some of their ships with ironUp to that time
almost all ships were made of wood
Shipyard in Liverpool, England.
C.S.S. Galena
Naval TechnologyUp until the Civil War, ironclad ships had not
been tested in battleAll navies of the world still used predominantly
wooden shipsWooden ships were fast and easy to float, but
they were also fragile, and flammable
C.S.S. Richmond
CSS VirginiaA Union ship named
Merrimack was sunk near Norfolk, VirginiaThe Confederates raised
the ship out of the water, and covered her with iron plating
On each side of the roof were holes for five powerful guns
The Confederate Navy renames the Merrimac the C.S.S. Virginia
CSS VirginiaOn March 8,1862,
the Virginia slid into the waterOn that same day,
the Virginia fought and sunk the U.S.S Cumberland and Minnesota
Battle of Hampton RoadsThree Union ships had attempted to save their two
shipsBut, with shells bouncing harmlessly off the Virginia’s
side, the captains chose to fleeWhen the news of the battle reached Washington,
people were in a panic. The South had unleashed a new super weapon.
U.S. Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton said the Virginia cold sink every vessel in the North, and it could steam up the Potomac River to Washington and “disperse Congress, destroy the Capitol and public buildings.”
Battle of Hampton Roads
MonitorLong before the launching, spies had
informed the U.S. Navy that the Virginia was being builtThe U.S. Navy decided to secretly build its own
ironclad vessel
A “shingle” with a “chees box” on top
MonitorInside the pilot house of the Monitor, which
revolved around, were two powerful gunsThe Virginia’s guns were stationary
The Monitor was smaller than the Virginia (Merrimack) and easier to maneuver
Monitor vs. MerrimackSunday,
March 9, 1862The shores
of Hampton Roads were lined with people eager to see the battle
Scenes from the BattleNeither ship is able to sink the
otherCannon-fire bounces harmlessly
off of the sides of the new ironclads
Monitor vs. MerrimackThe two fought to a
tactical draw, but again the Virginia had to withdraw to deeper waters giving the Monitor a strategic victory
The Virginia remained a threat, but fears that she would single-handedly destroy the Federal fleet were now abated
Monitor vs. MerrimackOn May 3 the
Confederates began to evacuate Yorktown and withdraw up the York-James PeninsulaThis opened up the
York and James River to Federal gunboats
It also forced the abandonment of Gosport Naval Yard and scuttling of the Virginia which opened up the James River to the Federals
Currier and Ives print of the destruction of the Virginia
Legacy of the BattleThe battle was a draw, although both sides
claimed victoryActually, it was iron ships that won, that battle
finished wooden warshipsCharles F. Adams, U.S. minister to England,
wrote from England that the battle “has been the main talk of the town even in Parliament, …The impression is that it dates the commencement of a new era in warfare.”
Harpers Weekly
Legacy of the Battle