The Duel Between the Monitor and the Merrimack

On this day, March 9, 1862, a naval battle took place off the peninsula of the James and York Rivers. The two fighters were the U.S.S. Merrimack (C.S.S. Virginia) and the U.S.S. Monitor. The U.S.S. Merrimack was captured as the rest of Norfolk Navy Yard on April 21, 1861. We reconstructed it, changing it into an inflexible ship with a supreme superstructure. It was now the C.S.S. Virginia. Before the battle, the Virginia had already practiced by defeating other ships. We were going to put it to use.

The U.S.S. Monitor had come from New York.The battle was about to begin.The ships fired at each other, but neither was seeming to make progress. The Virginia had unsuccessfully tried to ram into the Monitor. We had underestimated the Yankee's ship. After four hours of fighting, the C.S.S. Virginia left back for Norfolk. They had left us to command Hampton Roads.

During the battle, we heavily fired to the pilothouse of the Monitor. As we hit the pilothouse, the impact blinded Lieutenant Lorimer Worden in the closing states. In the end, no ship had sank. We simply left with our heads hung low.

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