Information AboutUss Monitor |
USS ''Monitor'' was the first Ironclad Warship commissioned by the United States Navy . She is most famous for her participation in the first-ever naval battle between two ironclad warships, the Battle Of Hampton Roads on March 9 , 1862 during the American Civil War , in which ''Monitor'' fought the ironclad CSS ''Virginia'' of the Confederate States Navy . The Monitor was the first in a long line of Monitor Class US warships and the term "monitor" describes a broad class of European harbor defense craft. Ironclads were only a recent innovation, started with the 1859 French ''La Gloire'' . Afterwards, the design of ships and the nature of naval warfare changed dramatically. DESIGN ''Monitor'' was one of three ironclad warships ordered by the U.S. Navy, after ''Galena'' and ''New Ironsides'' . Designed by the Swedish engineer John Ericsson , the ''USS Monitor'' was described as a "cheesebox on a raft," consisting of a heavy round revolving iron Turret on the deck, housing two large (11 inch) Dahlgren Guns , paired side by side. The original design of the ship used a system of heavy metal shutters to protect the gun ports while reloading. However, the operation of the shutters proved to be so cumbersome that the crews operating the guns adopted the procedure of simply rotating the turret away from potential hostile fire to reload the guns. Further, the inertia of the rotating turret proved to be so great, that a system for stopping turret to fire the guns was only implemented on later models of ships in the ''Monitor'' class. The crew of the USS Monitor solved the turret inertia problem by firing the guns on the fly while the turret rotated past the target. While this procedure resulted in a substantial loss of accuracy, given the close range at which the ''USS Monitor'' operated, the loss of accuracy was not critical. The armored deck was barely above the waterline. Aside from a small boxy Pilothouse , a detachable Smokestack and a few fittings, the bulk of the ship was below the Waterline to prevent damage from cannon fire. The turret comprised 8 bolted together layers of 1" plate with an additional ninth plate inside to act as a sound shield. A Steam Donkey engine turned the turret. The heavily armored deck extended beyond the waterproof hull which was only 5/8" thick. Thus the vulnerable parts of the ship were completely protected. ''Monitor'''s hull was built at the Continental Iron Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn , New York , and the ship was launched there on January 30 , 1862 . There is a statue in Monsignor McGorlick park in Greenpoint, facing Monitor Street, commemorating the ship. ''Monitor'' was innovative in construction technique as well as design. Parts were forged in nine foundries and brought together to build the ship; the whole process took less than 120 days. In addition to the "cheesebox", its rotating turret, ''Monitor'' was also the first naval vessel to be fitted with Ericsson's Marine Screw . Ericsson anticipated some aspects of modern Submarine design by placing all of ''Monitor'''s features except the turret and pilothouse underwater, making it the first Semi-submersible ship. In contrast, ''Virginia'' was a conventional wooden vessel covered with iron plates and bearing fixed weapons. BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS At the Battle Of Hampton Roads ''Virginia'' attacked the Union blockading squadron in Hampton Roads , Virginia , on March 8 , 1862 , destroying USS ''Cumberland'' and ''Congress'' and forcing ''Minnesota'' aground before withdrawing. That night, ''Monitor'', under command of Lt. John L. Worden , arrived under tow from Brooklyn. When ''Virginia'' returned the next day, March 9 , 1862 , to finish off ''Minnesota'' and the rest of the U.S. fleet, ''Monitor'' sailed forth to stop her. The ironclads fought for about four hours, neither one sinking or seriously damaging the other. Tactically, the battle was a draw--neither ironclad did significant damage to the other. However, it was a strategic victory for ''Monitor''. ''Virginia'' THE MONITOR-CLASS WARSHIP USS ''Monitor'' became the prototype for the Monitor Class of warship. Many more were built, including River Monitor s and deep-sea monitors, and they played key roles in Civil War battles on the Mississippi and James rivers. Some had two or even three turrets, and later monitors had improved seaworthiness. Just three months after the famous Battle Of Hampton Roads , the design was offered to Sweden , and in 1865 the first Swedish monitor was being built at Motala Wharf in Norrköping ; she was named ''John Ericsson'' in honor of the engineer. She was followed by 14 more monitors. One of them, ''Sölve'', is still preserved at the marine museum in Gothenburg . The last U.S. Navy monitor-class warship was struck from the Navy List in 1937. LOSS AT SEA While the design of ''Monitor'' was well-suited for river combat, her low freeboard and heavy turret made her highly unseaworthy in rough waters. This feature probably led to the early loss of the original ''Monitor'', which foundered during a heavy storm. Swamped by high waves while under tow by ''Rhode Island'' , she sank on December 31 , 1862 in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras , North Carolina . 16 of 62 crewmen were lost in the storm. The name ''Monitor'' was given to the troop carrier USS ''Monitor'' (LSV-5) , commissioned late in World War II . She served primarily in the Pacific Theater , and was later scrapped. REDISCOVERY In 1973, the wreck of the ironclad ''Monitor'' was located on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean about 26 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras , North Carolina . The wreck site was designated as the United States' first marine sanctuary. ''Monitor'' Sanctuary is the only one of the thirteen national marine sanctuaries created to protect a cultural resource, rather than a natural resource. In 2003, after 41 days of work, the revolutionary revolving gun turret was salvaged by the U.S. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a team of US Navy divers. Before removing the turret, divers discovered the remains of two trapped crew members. The remains of these sailors, who died while on duty, were given a full Military Funeral by the United States Navy. The site is now under the supervision of NOAA. Many artifacts from ''Monitor'', including her turret, propeller, anchor, engine and some personal effects of the crew, have been conserved and are on display at the Mariners' Museum of Newport News , Virginia . In 1986, ''Monitor'' was designated a National Historic Landmark . It is one of only three accessible monitor wrecks in the world, the others being the Norwegian KNM ''Thor'' , which lies at about 25 feet off Verdens Ende in Vestfold county, Norway and the Australian vessel HMVS Cerberus. CAMPAIGN TO HONOR THE USS ''MONITOR'' The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable is mounting a grassroots campaign to persuade the United States Congress and the Navy to name a ''Virginia'' Class Submarine after the USS ''Monitor.'' Despite the enduring fame of the original, innovative ironclad, there has not been a warship named ''Monitor'' listed in the Naval Vessel Register since 1961. REFERENCES
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