1-272-945 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Battle of the 'Monitor' and the 'Merrimack', Hampton Roads, Virginia, 9 March 1862 (1862-1867). From left to right: Sewall's Point, rebel tug, 'Jamestown', 'Merrimack', 'Monitor', 'Yorktown', 'Cumberland', 'Minnesota', Newport News. The Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia, which was fought on 8-9 March 1862, featured the first engagement between two powered ironclad warships. The Confederate 'Merrimack', having previously sunk two Union ships in an attempt to break through their blockade, fought the Union 'Monitor' in a battle lasting 9 hours. The outcome was inconclusive, with neither vessel able to seriously damage the other, but the nature of naval warfare had been changed for ever. An engraving from volume II of The War with the South : a History of the Late Rebellion, by Robert Tomes, Benjamin G Smith, New York, Virtue & Yorston, 3 Volumes, 1862-1867.