The first “trial run” of the Virginia was its combat debut against the US Navy at Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862

The newly christened CSS Virginia is prepared for battle by early March 1862. On the morning of March 8, Virginia departs Portsmouth and steams downstream to assault the Union ships anchored there in an effort to scuttle the Union blockading ships in Hampton Roads. For its maiden journey, the Virginia generated steam and steamed slowly into the Elizabeth River. Franklin Buchanan, the Virginia's new captain, was not overly concerned about the fact that the engines had not been thoroughly tested or that the armored shields for her broadside gun ports had not yet been erected. There are two enormous 11-inch Dahlgren cannons mounted on the ship. Its distinctive look has earned it the moniker "cheesebox on a raft."

For his combative personality, Buchanan, who had been chosen as the Confederate Secretary of the Navy by Stephen Mallory, was determined to make the Virginia's first voyage an assault on the adjacent Union navy.