"Ironclad against ironclad, we maneuvered about the bay here and went at each other with mutual fierceness," reported Chief Engineer Alban Stimers following that momentous engagement between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (ex USS Merrimack) in Hampton Roads, Sunday, March 9, 1862. The day before, the Rebel ram had obliterated two powerful Union warships and was poised to destroy more. That night, the revolutionary - not to say bizarre - Monitor slipped into harbor after hurrying down from New York through fierce ...
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"Ironclad against ironclad, we maneuvered about the bay here and went at each other with mutual fierceness," reported Chief Engineer Alban Stimers following that momentous engagement between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (ex USS Merrimack) in Hampton Roads, Sunday, March 9, 1862. The day before, the Rebel ram had obliterated two powerful Union warships and was poised to destroy more. That night, the revolutionary - not to say bizarre - Monitor slipped into harbor after hurrying down from New York through fierce gales that almost sank her. These metal monstrosities dueled in the morning, pounding away for hours with little damage to either. Who won is still debated. One Vermont reporter could hardly find words for Monitor: "It is in fact unlike anything that ever floated on Neptune's bosom." The little vessel became an icon of American industrial ingenuity and strength. She redefined the relationship between men and machines in war. But beforehand, many feared she would not float. Captain John L. Worden: "Here was an unknown, untried vessel...an iron coffin-like ship of which the gloomiest predictions were made." The CSS Virginia was a paradigm of Confederate strategy and execution - the brainchild of innovative, dedicated, and courageous men, but the victim of hurried design, untested technology, poor planning and coordination, and a dearth of critical resources. Nevertheless, she obsolesced the entire U.S Navy, threatened the strategically vital blockade, and disrupted General McClellan's plans to take Richmond. From flaming, bloody decks of sinking ships, to the dim confines of the first rotating armored turret, to the smoky depths of a Rebel gundeck - with shells screaming, clanging, booming, and splashing all around - to the office of a worried president with his cabinet peering down the Potomac for a Rebel monster, this dramatic story unfolds through the accounts of men who lived it in Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862 by Dwight Sturtevant Hughes.
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On March 9, 1862, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (Merrimack) engaged in a hard-fought inconclusive naval battle at Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Battle of Hampton Roads immediately became on of history's most famous sea battles. It was the first clash of two ironclad ships and would revolutionize naval warfare. The battle was part of a Confederate attempt to break the Union blockade of its ports. It also played a role in the Union's Peninsular Campaign against Richmond led by General George McClellan.
Dwight Sturtevant Hughes tells the story of the Monitor and Virginia in his new book, "Unlike Anything that Ever Floated" (2021). A graduate of Annapolis, Hughes followed a lengthy Navy career with a career in software engineering. He is now engaged in yet a third career as a naval historian of the Civil War. His book is part of the "Emerging Civil War Series" which presents key events of the Civil War in a way both accessible to a broad public and scholarly.
Although relatively short and written for a broad public, Hughes' book is full of detail. He describes the early history of ironclad ships in Europe. The book explores the military and political considerations that drove both the Union and the Confederacy in the efforts to construct ironclads. It shows a great deal about the painstaking process of designing and building the vessels. Some of the technical material will be difficult to follow for readers who are not mechanically inclined. But it is valuable for showing the complexity and scope of the task facing both sides.
The book offers background to the military actions leading to the clash on March 9. In particular, the book features a lengthy discussion of the maiden ocean voyage of the Monitor from New York City to Hampton Roads. The Monitor was twice perilously close to shipwreck. It was not designed to be an ocean going vessel. The book builds to a climax as it describes the havoc the Virginia wrecked on Union wooden ships in a battle on March 8. When the Monitor arrived, the two ironclads fought to an inconclusive draw, changing naval warfare forever the following day. The combat soon became immortalized in the popular culture of the 19th century and remains inspiring today.
The book includes eleven maps in addition to the detailed text. But the many illustrations are one of the strongest features of the book. There are many historical drawings of the ships and of the battles together with photos of the brave soldiers who manned the ships, from common seamen to commanders. There are many photos and drawings of the interior of the ships and of the process of construction. The book includes as well photos of the extensive monumentation and other historical commemoration surrounding the ironclads. Appendices to the book offer a driving tour of the battle site, an overview of the use of other ironclads in the Civil War, and a discussion of the preservation of large artifacts from the Monitor at the Mariners' Museum and Park in Norfolk, Virginia. The book concludes with an excellent annotated bibliography for those moved to do further reading.
This book is much more thorough than I expected from a popular history. It greatly increased my understanding of the battle and its significance, and it piqued my interest. The book will be of value to readers with even a casual interest in the Civil War, but it will also be of interest to those with a passion for Civil War Naval History. Savas Beatie, the publisher of the Emerging Civil War Series, kindly sent me a review copy.
