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The Man behind the Monitor
Captain John Ericsson, a Swedish engineer working in England, was a master in the field
of steam driven engines. He was the first man to use hot-air expansion engines in place
of steam engines. He employed this innovative design in fire engine pumps, locomotives,
and screw propeller vessels, the first of which was the tugboat, Francis B. Ogden, built
in England in 1837. True to Ericsson's promises, the tug displayed incredible power.
Ericsson's was heavily in debt after building the Francis B. Ogden — for this he was sent
to prison. Shortly after his release in 1839, he left Europe for America, never to return.
Once in the US, Ericsson invented the concept of "sub-aquatic warfare," whereby a
ship would be constructed so that most of its hull would lie below the waterline.
This minimum profile, in theory, would make 'sub-aquatic' ships more difficult to
target with cannon fire. The Union Navy was intent on building an armored vessel
to compete with the Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia, and Ericsson design was
commissioned. Construction began in October, 1861 and the Monitor was launched on
January 30, 1862, commanded by Lt. John L. Worden.
The unconventional vessel had only thirteen inches of freeboard fully-loaded, and a
draft of thirteen feet. She was a mere 172 feet long, displacing only 1000 tons.
Her design included a prominent revolving gun turret that could be aimed without
repositioning the entire ship. The 120-ton turret was twenty feet in diameter and
nine feet high, plated with eight layers of inch-thick armor. It housed two
eleven-inch Dalhgren guns. The Monitor's odd silhouette led to her being
nicknamed "The Cheesebox."
The Race for Supremacy of the Seas
In the spring of 1861, the Confederate Army gained control of the Gosport Navy Yard
and quickly made it their priority to raise the hulk of the USS Merrimac. They set
about converting the frigate Merrimac into an ironclad vessel. The armored ship,
rechristened the CSS Virginia, fulfilled her fledgling nation's aspirations —
in battle, she seemed absolutely invincible.
On March 8, 1862, the Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads, Virginia and began inflicting
heavy damage on the Union Naval fleet. The US frigates Congress and Cumberland were sent
to the bottom, and the armored Confederate invader remained completely unscathed. As
daylight broke the following morning, the Monitor arrived. The two ships fought for
hours at close range, actually scraping each other's hulls during tight maneuvers.
They blasted each other each other with their heavy guns — fierce fusillades that
would have destroyed any other ships of the day. But the battle raged on, and neither
of the invulnerable ships seemed capable of causing any serious damage to the other.
Eventually, the Virginia began leaking badly, and she retreated for Norfolk. Both sides
claimed victory after the final shots were fired.
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