Duel of the Ironclads

The next morning at about 6:00 am Virginia, accompanied by Jamestown, Patrick Henry, and Teaser, got underway from Sewell's Point to finish off Minnesota and the rest of the blockaders, but were delayed sailing out into Hampton Roads because of heavy fog until about 8:00 am. In Monitor, Worden was already at his station in the pilot house while Greene took command of the turret. Samuel Howard, Acting Master of Minnesota, who was familiar with Hampton Roads with its varying depths and shallow areas, had volunteered to be the pilot the night before and thus was accepted, while Quarter Master Peter Williams steered the vessel throughout the battle (Williams was later awarded the Medal of Honor for this act). The speaking tube used to communicate between the pilothouse and the turret had broken early in the action so Keeler and Toffey had to relay commands from Worden to Greene. As Virginia approached, she began firing at Minnesota from more than a mile away, a few of her shells hitting the vessel. When the firing was heard in the distance, Greene sent Keeler to the pilot house for permission to open fire as soon as possible where Worden ordered, "Tell Mr. Greene not to fire till I give the word, to be cool and deliberate, to take sure aim and not waste a shot."

Monitor, to the surprise of Virginia's crew, had emerged from behind Minnesota and positioned herself between her and the grounded ship, preventing the Confederate ironclad from further engaging the vulnerable wooden ship at close range. At 8:45 am Worden gave the order to fire where Greene fired the first shots of the battle between the two ironclads which harmlessly deflected off the Confederate ironclad. During the battle, Monitor fired solid shots, about once every eight minutes, while Virginia fired shells exclusively. The ironclads fought, generally at close range, for about four hours, ending at 12:15 pm, ranging from a few yards to more than a hundred. Both ships were constantly in motion, maintaining a circular pattern. Because of Virginia's weak engines, great size and weight, and a draft of 22 ft (6.7 m), she was slow and difficult to maneuver, taking her half an hour to complete a 180-degree turn.

During the engagement, Monitor's turret began to malfunction, making it extremely difficult to turn and stop at a given position, so the crew simply let the turret continuously turn and fired their guns "on the fly" as they bore on Virginia. The Monitor received several direct hits on the turret, causing some bolts to violently shear off and ricochet around inside. The deafening sound of the impact stunned some of the crew, causing nose and ear bleeding. However, neither vessel was able to sink or seriously damage the other. At one point, Virginia attempted to ram but only struck Monitor a glancing blow and did no damage. The collision did, however, aggravate the damage to Virginia's bow from when she had previously rammed Cumberland. The Monitor was also unable to do significant damage to Virginia, possibly because her guns were firing with reduced charges, on advice from Commander John Dahlgren, the gun's designer, who lacked the "preliminary information" needed to determine what amount of charge was needed to "pierce, dislocate or dislodge iron plates" of various thicknesses and configurations. During the battle, Stodder was stationed at the wheel that controlled the turning of the turret, but at one point when he was leaning against its side the turret received a direct hit directly opposite to him which knocked him clear across the inside, rendering him unconscious. He was taken below to recover and relieved by Stimers.

The two vessels were pounding each other at such close range that they collided five times. By 11:00 am Monitor's supply of shot in the turret had been exhausted. With one of the gun port covers jammed shut, she hauled off to shallow waters to resupply the turret and repair the damaged hatch, which could not be fixed. During the lull in the battle, Worden climbed through the gun port out onto the deck to get a better view of the overall situation. Virginia, seeing Monitor turn away, turned her attention to Minnesota and fired shots that set the wooden vessel ablaze, also destroying the nearby tugboat Dragon. When the turret was resupplied with ammunition, Worden returned to battle with only one gun able to fire.

Towards the end of the engagement, Worden directed Williams to steer Monitor around the stern of the Confederate ironclad; Lieutenant Wood fired Virginia's 7-inch Brooke gun at Monitor's pilothouse, striking the forward side directly beneath the sight hold, cracking the structural "iron log" along the base of the narrow opening just as Worden was peering out. Worden was heard to cry out, My eyes—I am blind! Others in the pilothouse had also been hit with fragments and were also bleeding. Temporarily blinded by shell fragments and gunpowder residue from the explosion, and believing the pilothouse to be severely damaged, Worden ordered Williams to sheer off into shallow water, where Virginia with her deep draft could not follow. There Monitor drifted idly for about twenty minutes. At the time the pilothouse was struck Worden's injury was only known to those in the pilothouse and immediately nearby. With Worden severely wounded, command passed to the executive officer, Samuel Greene. Taken by surprise, he was briefly undecided as to what action to take next, but after assessing the damage soon ordered Monitor to return to the battle area.

Shortly after Monitor withdrew, Virginia had run aground, at which time Jones came down from the spar deck to find the gun crews not returning fire. Jones demanded to know why and was briefed by Lieutenant Eggleston that powder was low and precious, and given Monitor's resistance to shot after two hours of battle, maintained that continued firing at that point would be a waste of ammunition. Virginia soon managed to break away and headed back towards Norfolk for needed repairs, believing that Monitor had withdrawn from battle. Greene did not pursue Virginia and, like Worden, was under orders to stay with and protect Minnesota, an action for which he was later criticized.

As a result of the duel between the two ironclads, Monitor had been struck twenty-two times, including nine hits to the turret and two hits to the pilothouse. She had managed to fire forty-one shots from her pair of Dahlgren guns. Virginia had sustained ninety-seven indentations to her armor from the fire of Monitor and other ships. Neither ship had sustained any significant damage. In the opinion of Virginia's commander Jones and her other officers, Monitor could have sunk their ship had she hit the vessel at the waterline.

Strategically, the battle between these two ships was considered the most definitive naval battle of the Civil War. The battle itself was largely considered a draw, though it could be argued Virginia did slightly more damage. Monitor did successfully defend Minnesota and the rest of the Union blockading force, while Virginia was unable to complete the destruction she started the previous day. The battle between the two Ironclads marked a turning point in the way naval warfare would be fought in the future. Strategically, nothing had changed: the Union still controlled Hampton Roads and the Confederates still held several rivers and Norfolk, making it a strategic victory for the North. The battle of the Ironclads led to what was referred to as "Monitor fever" in the North. During the course of the war improved designs based on Monitor emerged; 60 ironclads were built.

Events After the Battle

Immediately following the battle Stimers telegraphed Ericsson, congratulating and thanking him for making it possible to confront the Confederate ironclad and for "saving the day". No sooner than Monitor had weighed anchor, numerous small boats and spectators on shore flocked around the ship to congratulate the crew for what they regarded as their victory over Virginia. Assistant Secretary Fox, who observed the entire battle from aboard Minnesota, came aboard Monitor and jokingly told her officers, "Well gentlemen, you don't look as though you just went through one of the greatest naval conflicts on record". A small tug soon came alongside and the blinded Worden was brought up from his cabin while crew members and spectators cheered. He was taken to Fort Monroe for preliminary treatment, then to a hospital in Washington.

Stimers and Newton soon began repairing the damage to the pilot house and reconfigured the sides from an upright position to a slope of thirty degrees to deflect shots. During this time, Mrs. Worden personally brought news of her husband's progress and recovery and was optimistic, informing the crew his eyesight would soon return but he would be laid up for some time. She also informed them President Lincoln had personally paid Worden a visit extending his gratitude. Worden was later taken to his summer home in New York and remained unconscious for three months. He returned to Naval service in 1862 as captain of USS Montauk, another Monitor-type ironclad.

The Confederates were also celebrating what they considered a victory, as crowds of spectators gathered along the banks of the Elizabeth River, cheering and waving flags, handkerchiefs, and hats as Virginia, displaying the captured ensign of Congress, passed along up the river. The Confederate government was ecstatic and immediately promoted Buchanan to Admiral.

Both the Union and Confederacy soon came up with plans for defeating the other's ironclad. Oddly, these did not depend on their own ironclads. The Union Navy chartered a large ship (the sidewheeler USS Vanderbilt) and reinforced her bow with steel specifically to be used as a naval ram, provided Virginia steamed far enough out into Hampton Roads.

On 11 April, Virginia, accompanied by a number of gunboats, steamed into Hampton Roads to Sewell's Point at the southeast edge, almost over to Newport News, in a challenge to lure Monitor into battle. Virginia fired a few shots ineffectively at very long range while Monitor returned fire, remaining near Fort Monroe, ready to fight if Virginia came to attack the Federal force congregated there. Furthermore, Vanderbilt was in the position to ram Virginia if she approached the fort, but Virginia did not take the bait. In a further attempt to entice Monitor closer to the Confederate side so she could be boarded, the James River Squadron moved in and captured three merchant ships, the brigs Marcus and Sabout, and the schooner Catherine T. Dix. These had been grounded and abandoned when they sighted Virginia entering the Roads. Their flags were then hoisted "Union-side down" to taunt Monitor into a fight as they were towed back to Norfolk. In the end, both sides failed to provoke a fight on their terms.

The Confederate Navy originally had devised a plan by which the James River Squadron would swarm Monitor with a party of men to board and capture the vessel and disable her by using heavy hammers to drive iron wedges under and disable the turret, and by covering the pilothouse with a wet sail effectively blinding the pilot. Others would throw combustibles down the ventilation openings and smoke holes. At one point Jones made such an attempt to board the vessel, but she managed to slip away around the stern of Virginia in time.

There was a second confrontation on 8 May, when Virginia came out while Monitor and four other Federal ships bombarded Confederate batteries at Sewell's Point. The Federal ships retired slowly to Fort Monroe, hoping to lure Virginia into the Roads. She did not follow, however, and after firing a gun windward as a sign of contempt, anchored off Sewell's Point. Later, when Confederate forces abandoned Norfolk on 11 May 1862, they were forced to destroy Virginia.