The Probert Encyclopaedia of Warfare

BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS

The Battle of Hampton Roads was the first battle between armoured warships. It was an inconclusive naval engagement during the American Civil War on the 8th and 9th of March 1862 off the south-east coast of Virginia.

The Confederate iron-clad Merrimac, commanded by Franklin Buchanan, was sent to raise the blockade of James and Elizabeth rivers by destroying the Union war-vessels. The Union frigate Cumberland was utterly destroyed and sunk by the Merrimac, which next, aided by three wooden Confederate steamers, attacked and burned the Congress. On March the 9th the Monitor, a Union iron-clad of a new type, appeared, and a fight of four hours followed. Captain Worden, of the Monitor, was temporarily blinded and Lieutenant Greene took command. The Merrimac was finally compelled to withdraw.
Research Battle of Hampton Roads