Ironclads
Battle of the Monitor and Merrimac By: Austin Jones
What are Ironclads?
Ironclads were just one of the inventions used in the civil war. They were kind of like submarines but steamed-powered. The first Ironclads were seen in 1592, used by the Korean Navy. It was called the "Turtle Ship" due to it's rounded "shell".
What were they used for?
There were 2 classes of Ironclads, smaller ones called City Class used for river warfare, and Monitor Class used for the ocean.
When were there used?
They were used before the U.S. by other countries quite a while before civil war by other countries like France and Japan. But the U.S. didn't start using them until after the Civil war officially started.
The Merrimack V.s. The Monitor
On March 9th, 1862, the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack started as the first battle between ironclads. The Battle of Hampton Roads was a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern imports. And the battle basically started a new era of Naval warfare.