2-710-125 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Attack of the "Monitor" on the "Merrimack"', (1878). The Battle of Hampton Roads, Virginia, which was fought on 8-9 March 1862, featured the first engagement between two powered ironclad warships. The Confederate 'Merrimac', having previously sunk two Union ships in an attempt to break through their blockade, fought the Union 'Monitor' in a battle lasting 9 hours. The outcome was inconclusive, with neither vessel able to seriously damage the other, but the nature of naval warfare had been changed for ever. From "Our Country: a Household History for All Readers, from the Discovery of America to the Present Time", Volume 3, by Benson J. Lossing. [Johnson & Miles, New York, 1878]