Battle of Hampton Roads Facts
Battle of Hampton Roads Facts
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| Interesting Battle of Hampton Roads Facts: |
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| The battle took place on March 8 and March 9, 1862. |
| This was a battle between the Union and Confederate navies near the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. |
| The Confederates had hoped to disrupt the Union's blockade of the Confederate supply line. |
| The Union blockade had isolated two of the biggest cities in Virginia - Richmond and Norfolk -from international trade. |
| This was the first battle of ironclad ships rather than the wooden hull ships that were used by most navies. |
| The Union ironclad was the USS Monitor and the Confederate ironclad was the CSS Virginia. |
| The CSS Virginia was formally the USS Merrimack. The Union sank it after the Civil War started, but the Confederates raised it and repaired it. |
| In order to make an ironclad ship, the Confederates had to melt down tools, cannons, and railroad tracks to create enough iron sheets. |
| The name "monitor" became a standard name for all warships that were similar to the USS Monitor. |
| The Monitor and the Virginia battled to a draw until the Virginia retreated on March 8. |
| On March 9, the Virginia 121 of the 376 seamen on board the USS Cumberland 120 of the 434 sailors on the USS Congress. |
| The iron ram on the bow of the Virginia, which weighed 1,500 pounds, did more damage than the 12 big guns. The ship simply rammed directly into the U.S. ships and punctured holes in the sides. |
| This was the worst naval defeat for the U.S. Navy until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. |
| There were more Union casualties that Confederate casualties, but the Confederates were not able to break the blockade. |
| Two months later, the retreating Confederates intentionally sank the Virginia. The Monitor sunk during a storm at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina at the end of 1862. |
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