welcome: to the battle of hampton roads
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome: To The Battleof Hampton Roads
Be sure you are on Zoom Audio Mute and Stop Video Questions: please utilize the chat box to type in your questions
during the presentation—I will try to answer them at the Break/End of ClassAt the bottom (or top) of your Zoom screen is a Menu BarClick on the Chat icon to bring up the chat boxHit “Enter” on your keyboard to send your Chat message
Recommend click on “show small active speaker video”
Michael W. Collier, Ph.D.Docent, Mariners’ Museum
Newport News, VirginiaSource: Mariners’ Museum
Meet the Instructor Education
High School: Lafayette County C-1, Higginsville, Missouri BS, U.S. Coast Guard Academy MS, U.S. Defense Intelligence College (now National Intelligence University) Ph.D., International Relations, Florida International University
Professional Career U.S. Coast Guard Officer (cutter operations/training & intelligence) Professor at FIU and Eastern Kentucky University
In Retirement Osher Institute Instructor, College of William & Mary Docent, Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, Virginia
Start of the U.S. Civil War Late-1700s & early-1800s’ politics
surrounding slavery led to the war Abraham Lincoln (R) elected
President on November 6, 1860 South Carolina seceded from the
United States December 20, 1860 Seven total States in deep-south
seceded by Lincoln’s inauguration March 4, 1961
Fort Sumter attacked April 12-13, 1861 Virginia seceded April 17, 1861,
followed by Tennessee, North Carolina, & Arkansas
Source: Britannica
Anaconda Plan Union Early War Strategy:
Blockade Confederate ports from Virginia to Florida, around Gulf of Mexico, and in Mississippi River System
Seize Confederate capital in Richmond, Virginia—first attempt was Union Peninsula Campaign March-July 1862, commanded by MGen George McClellan
Source: Library of Congress
Building the Confederate Navy Mallory faced building a Confederate
Navy from almost nothing From his work on U.S. Senate
Committee on Naval Affairs, he knew the future of naval warfare was Ironclads
Sent unsuccessful Confederate Navy mission to Britain and France with $2 million to buy an Ironclad
He then looked for ways Confederate Navy could build their own Ironclads
Confederate Secretary of the NavyFormer U.S. Senator (D-FL)
Stephen R. Mallory
Source: Blogspot.com
Comparing Navies (1861-1865)Confederate Navy Union Navy War Start:
30 total ships, 14 seaworthy—no frigates or sloops-of-war, mainly seized Union steamers, tugs, revenue cutters
No ironclads War End:
101 ships total 22 coastal ironclads (28 in construction) 10-15 river ironclads Remainder gunboats, torpedo boats, tugs
Commerce raiders/blockade runners 19 armed commerce raiders: CSS Sumter (5
guns), CSS Alabama (8 guns), & more 200 fast blockade runners (CSS Banshee)
War Start: 42 sail/steam frigates. sloops-of-war 48 in ordinary (moth-balled), mainly sail,
needed crews & re-outfitting Dozens of gunboats, tugs, revenue cutters No ironclads
War End: 671 ships total
New frigates/sloops-of-war Large effort building ironclads
60 coastal ironclads 40-50 river ironclads
More gunboats, tugs, auxiliaries
Various Sources, Often Conflicting
Evolution of Early IroncladsBritish HMS Warrior (1860)
French Navy Gloire (1859)
Source: Wikipedia
Source: premiershipmodels.co.uk
French Battery Lave (1855)
Source: military wikia.com
U.S. Stevens’ Battery ProjectStarted 1844, 1st Ship 1861
Source: Pinterest
USS Carondelet (1861)River Gunboat
USS Galena (1862)
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
Confederates Seize GosportNaval Shipyard April 20, 1861
Photo Sources: Mariners’ Museum
Located in Portsmouth, Virginia
Union forces destroyed: 74 gun 3rd rate ships-of-the-line--Pennsylvania, Delaware, Columbus; 44-45 gun frigates—Merrimack, Raritan, Columbia; 22 gun sloops-of-war--Germantown, Plymouth; 8 gun brig-rigged gunboat Dolphin, and abandoned frigate United States (built 1797). The 24 gun sloop-of-war Cumberland was towed to safety by tug Yankee and 10 gun sloop-of-war Pawnee. Merrimack, Germantown, and Plymouth were ready for sea, but had no crews.
Confederates Decide to Build TheirFirst Ironclad from Sunken Hullof ex-USS Merrimack in Gosport
Source: Wikipedia Source: Mariners’ Museum
USS Merrimack in 1855 Confederate Ironclad Built in Gosport Drydockon hull of ex-USS Merrimack
CSS Virginia is Commissioned
Source: Pinterest
Armament:2 X 7 inch Brooke rifles (pivot guns)2 X 6.4 inch Brooke rifles6 X 9 inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns (“hot shot” furnace)
2 X 2 inch iron plates, 24 inches wood
Took 9 months to build, with much time awaiting iron armor plating
Ordered: July 11, 1861Completed: March 7, 1862Cost: $175,523
2 blade propeller
Speed: 5-6 knots planned, 4 knots at best
(Worn-out)
Union Now Needed Ironclads August 1861, U.S. Navy appointed Ironclad Board and
issued requests for designs for commercially built Ironclads, gave only 100 days to build
Cornelius Bushnell, builder of USS Galena, took his plans for a stability review to John Ericsson of New York, well known naval architect
Ericsson, who did not submit original plans, unveiled old plans and a working model of his own that were eventually approved for construction by U.S. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles and President Lincoln
John Ericsson
Source: Library of CongressSource: lenovo.com
Ericsson Had ContentiousPast with U.S. Navy
Ericsson designed USS Princeton—first propeller-driven U.S. warship, launched 1843—at end relations were tense with CO Captain Robert Stockton who tried to take credit for the ship’s design
Source: navsource.org
Source: Wikipedia
During Princeton VIP cruise on the Potomac on February 28, 1844, a test firing of a new 12 inch gun “The Peacemaker,” saw the breech explode, killing 6 and injuring 16-20, including killing Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy. Ericsson had nothing to do with gun’s design or testing, but was blamed for the accident.
USS Monitor Original Plans
Captain’s Office& StateroomOfficers’
StateroomsCrews’
QuartersGalley
BoilersMain Engine
Ericsson modified other inventors’ patent for the turret, but rest of the ship was his design—included over 40 patents he later gave to the U.S. Navy
Marine Heads
Coal Bunkers
Source: Mariners’ Museum
Storage
Turret Pilothouse
Ericsson’s 1st Ironclad
Source: nhgallery.org
Armament: 2 X 11 inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns
Took 101 days to build
Ordered: October 4, 1861Keel Laid: October 25, 1861Launched: January 30, 1862Cost: $275,000
(Officers)
Wardroom
Air Intakes
Boiler Exhausts
Underwater Hull½ inch of iron
Used 15 lb. powder charges as tests not completed on full 30 lb. charges
4 blades
Speed: 6 knots
The Commanders
CO: Captain Franklin Buchanan
XO: Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones
CO: Lieutenant John Worden
XO: Lieutenant Samuel Greene
Photo Sources: Multiple
CSS Virginia USS Monitor
Born Maryland, 1815 U.S. Navy midshipman, 1825 commissioned LT, extensive sea duty, 1845 1st U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent, 1861 joined Confederate Navy, 1862 Commander Confederate James River Forces
Born Virginia, 1836 U.S. Navy midshipman, 1849 commissioned LT, sea duty, ordnance specialist, 1861 joined Confederate Navy, 1861-1862 assigned to CSS Virginia construction team and later as XO
Born New York, 1834 U.S. Navy midshipman, 1844 commissioned LT,sea duty, naval observatory duty, 1861 Confederate prisoner of war, Jan. 1862 assigned as CO USS Monitor
Born Maryland, 1855 U.S. Naval Academy, 1859-1861 sea duty as midshipman, 1861 commissioned LT, Dec. 1861 assigned as XO of USS Monitor
CSS Virginia & Escorts
Source: Wikipedia
Hampton RoadsUnion Blockading Squadron:USS Roanoke, steam frigate (flagship)USS St. Lawrence, sail frigateUSS Minnesota, steam frigateUSS Congress, sail frigateUSS Cumberland, sail sloop-of-warSeveral gunboats & tugboats
CSS BeaufortCSS RaleighSS Harmony
USS Cumberland Sunk
Source: artfactorygallerres.com Source: Pinterest
CSS Virginia attacked USS Cumberland first because it had a 60 lb. (5.3 inch) Parrott rifle Buchanan saw as his main threat, CSS Virginia rammed USS Cumberland and the two ships exchanged intense broadsides, estimated 120 USS Cumberland officers and crew killed
Attack on Union Transports After sinking USS Cumberland, CSS
Virginia proceeded up the James River to turn around (3/4 mile turning circle)
As it made the turn, it bombarded Union transports moored off Newport News
Union Damage: SS Whilden burned & sunk Unknown schooner burned SS Reindeer captured
Confederate James River Squadron joined CSS Virginia at turn: gunboats CSS Patrick Henry, CSS Jamestown, & CSS Teaser Source: Wikipedia
USS Congress Surrenders, Burns, Later Explodes
Source: ibiblio
CSS Virginia returned and began shelling USS Congress, the Union frigate surrendered, but when CSS Patrick Henry started to board, Camp Butler riflemen and shore batteries fired on the Confederate ships and they pulled away, leaving USS Congress in flames, estimated 150 officers and crew killed.
Source: Pinterest
As CSS Virginia passed anchored USS Congress heading for USS Cumberland, CSS Virginia and USS Congress exchanged broadsides—CSS Virginia “hot shot” left USS Congress in flames, leading to its self-grounding off Camp Butler
USS Congress
USS Minnesota Damaged With Captain Buchanan shot in the leg,
Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones took command of CSS Virginia
On leaving USS Congress in flames, CSS Virginia joined Confederate gunboats in bombarding grounded USS Minnesota, several Minnesota officers & crew killed or injured (exact number unknown)
CSS Virginia Pilot convinced Jones the outgoing tide and fading daylight called for ship to return to a safe mooring, ending 1st
day attacks on Union forces
Source: navsource.org
2 Union Transports Destroyed,1 Captured
USS Cumberland SunkUSS Congress in Flames,
Later Exploded
USS Minnesota Damaged
A major Confederate success on 1st day of CSS Virginia sea trials
2nd Day Confederate Plan: Destroy Minnesota, Roanoke, & St. Lawrence
9:00 PM – USS Monitor arrives in Hampton Roads
Photo Sources: Multiple
USS Monitor Arrives CO Monitor first reports to CO USS Roanoke
anchored off Ft. Monroe, briefed on March 8 battle, and assigned to protect USS Minnesota
Monitor then proceeds and anchors just off grounded Minnesota as USS Congress still burns to the west—chaos reigned on Minnesota
Around 12:30 AM on 9 March, Congress explodes when fires reach powder magazines
After being up for 48 hours as Monitor battled a storm offshore, officers and crew got little sleep this night as they were up most of the night while Minnesota tried to escape the shoals
Source: Robert Underwood Johnson & Clarence Clough Buel at commons.wikimedia.org
First Shots8:35 AM
Virginia Grounds 10:30 AM
Monitor Pilothouse Hit 12:10 PM
Source: Pinterest
Ironclad Battle Damage CSS Virginia Damage (8 & 9 March):
1st day 98 shell strikes—2nd day additional 50 shell strikes, on 2nd day Monitor shot 41 shells (most hits), plus Minnesota also had hits
1st day lost ram and most topside rigging damaged or destroyed, 2 X 9 inch Dahlgren gun muzzles shot off
1st day 2 killed and 6 injured, CO Buchanan wounded in leg, 2nd day casualties reported (number unknown)
USS Monitor Damage (9 March): 22 shell strikes (9 to turret, 2 to pilothouse, 11 to
deck & sides)—2 strikes were from Minnesota Pilothouse damaged, one gun port cover jammed Several personnel had concussions from shell
strikes on turret, CO Worden blinded, no deaths Cannon balls/rifled shells never penetrated
either ship’s armor
CSS Virginia did more damage to Union forces during the 2-day battle, but in the end it was a strategic victory for the Union, as CSS Virginia did not break the blockade of Hampton Roads
Source: Mariners’ Museum
Ship Limitations FoundCSS Virginia USS Monitor
22 ft. draft limited navigation Worn-out engines, inefficient propeller
limited speed and maneuverability No armor piercing rounds for Brooke
rifles Wooden hull exposed as ship lightened
from expending coal and shells/powder Lack of gun port covers exposed crew
Voice tube from pilothouse to turret broke at start of battle (used messengers)
Found unable to stop moveable turret with any precision (just let it turn)
Use of 15 lb. powder charges (instead of later approved 30 lb. full charges) kept shells from piercing CSS Virginia armor
Rectangular pilothouse did not deflect shells easily and was damaged
This Single Battle Changed Naval Warfare Forever
First ever Ironclad battle—changed future warship design and naval warfare tactics
Showed the vulnerability of wooden warships to Ironclads
Demonstrated the utility of faster, more maneuverable ships with large rotatable armored guns
Armored cruisers, dreadn0ughts, and battleships evolved from lessons learned in this battle
Source: YouTube
CSS Virginia After the BattleApril 1862, a repaired CSS Virginia and Confederate gunboats sortied several times to mouth of Elizabeth River to draw USS Monitor into a fight—planned to board Monitor, place tarps over pilothouse, and throw explosives in air intakes, boiler exhausts, and turret
Union forces did not take the bait, but did prepare the USS Vanderbilt with a ram to attack CSS Virginia if it entered Hampton Roads
May 11, 1862, to prevent ship from being captured as Union forces reoccupied Norfolk and Portsmouth, CSS Virginia was run aground off Craney Island and set on fire, later exploding
Source: Mariners’ Museum
Source: Blogspot.com
Monitor in Peninsula Campaign May 15, 1862, USS Monitor was
part of Union task group that fought the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff
USS Monitor was joined by: Ironclad screw sloop USS Galena
(flagship)–4 X 9 inch Dahlgren smoothbore guns, 2 X 100 lb. Parrott rifles (6.4 inch)
Ironclad semi-submersible USRC Naugatuck (Stevens’ Battery project)—1 X 100 lb. Parrott rifle (6.4 inch)
Screw gunboat USS Aroostook Sidewheel gunboat USS Port Royal One additional gunboat (unidentified)
Source: 26nc.org
Confederate Battery included several CSS Virginia guns and was commanded by former-CSS Virginia XO/CO, Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones
Source: Pinterest
Source: Wikipedia
Battle of Drewry’s Bluff
Summer of 1862 Was Hot! After Drewry’s Bluff, USS Monitor
spent the summer of 1862 on the James River supporting Union land forces and continuing the blockade
It was a boring and hot summer! Main threat was snipers ashore Galley fire forced cooking on deck Crew ate fish, crabs, and oysters Escaped slave (contraband) Siah
Hulett Carter joined crew that summer as ship’s boy (cook’s asst.)
Fall and Winter 1862 After Fall 1862 refitting at
Washington Navy Yard, USS Monitor returned to blockading squadron at Hampton Roads
December 29, 1862, USS Rhode Island took USS Monitor in tow to Beaufort, North Carolina
Night of December 30-31, 1862, USS Monitor foundered and sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras Source: NOAA
Monitor Sinking Taking on significant water in high
seas, Acting Master Louis Stoddercut the towline
USS Rhode Island boats rescued crewmembers—CO Commander John Bankhead, XO Lieutenant Samuel Greene, and Stodder were last to abandon ship
47 of crew were rescued, 16 were lost (4 officers, 12 enlisted)
Source: Mariners’ Museum
USS Monitor wreck site found in 1973
Designated a National Marine Sanctuary in 1974
Major salvage started around 2000 due wreck’s increasing deterioration
Source: NOAA
USS Monitor Salvage
Source: NOAA
Monitor turned upside-down while sinking, gun turret had broken loose during sinking and was found under hull at port quarter
NOAA designed “spider” used to raise gun turret (raised upside down and still is today)
Source: NOAA
Mariners’ MuseumMonitor Repository
Items in ConservationSome Items Completed Conservation & On Display
Sources: Mariner’s Museum & NOAA
Use “Electrolytic Reduction” to break down concretion, remove salt (chlorides), & stabilize metal
Please Come Visit!
Batten Conservation Lab
USS Monitor Full-Scale ModelCSS Virginia Partial Full-Scale Model
Photo Sources: Mariners’ Museum
$1 Entrance Fee
USS Monitor Center
Recommended Reading
I will stay online and answer any questions in Zoom Chat, or via Zoom Audio, or
you can send me an Email at [email protected]