The Civil War featured the first battle between ironclad ships.
The improvement of steamships changed the course of naval warfare in the late 19th century. In addition to giving ships much more freedom to control wind and currents, the additional power allowed them to carry heavier guns and heavier armor. New technology made its historic debut when the world saw the first engagement between armored warships at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862. USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought for hours before leaving - neither of them carried the armor-piercing ammunition needed to pierce the iron shell. However, the Battle of Hampton Roads proved the viability of armored technology and offered a glimpse into the future of naval warfare. Ironclad ships deserve to be an indispensable name in the list of facts about Civil War Navies.
The ironclad ship was a new kind of warship first used in the Civil War. Previous warships had been built out of wood. These ships could be easily sunk by cannonballs. Ironclad warships, however, were protected with outer armor made of iron. Through the remainder of the war, ironclads saw action in the Union's attacks on Confederate ports. Seven Union monitors, including USS Montauk, as well as two other ironclads, the ironclad frigate New Ironsides and a light-draft USS Keokuk, participated in the failed attack on Charleston; one was sunk. On March 9, 1862, one of the most famous naval battles in American history occurred as two ironclads, the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia fought to a draw off Hampton Roads, Virginia. Virginia was the most successful Confederate ironclad and the prototype for almost all the other 50 ironclads the South attempted to build. The ship's simple design of a sloped and iron-plated casemate had proven efficient at deflecting cannon shots.
