USS Monitor (1862)
USS Monitor at sea
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Monitor |
| Ordered: | 4 October 1861 |
| Builder: | Continental Iron Works, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, U.S. |
| Cost: | $275,000 |
| Laid down: | 25 October 1861 |
| Launched: | 30 January 1862 |
| Commissioned: | 25 February 1862 |
| Fate: | Lost at sea, 31 December 1862 |
| Status: | Wreck located 27 August 1973, partially salvaged |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Monitor |
| Displacement: | 987 long tons (1,003 t) |
| Tons burthen: | 776 tons (bm) |
| Length: | 179 ft (54.6 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft 6 in (12.6 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
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| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) |
| Complement: | 49 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament: | 2 × 11-inch (280 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns |
| Armor: |
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USS Monitor
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| Nearest city | Cape Hatteras, North Carolina |
| Area | 9.9 acres (4.0 ha) |
| Built | 1862 |
| Architect | Ericsson, John |
| Architectural style | Other, Ironclad warship |
| NRHP Reference # | 74002299 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 11 October 1974 |
| Designated NHL | 23 June 1986 |
USS Monitor was an iron-hulled steamship. Built during the American Civil War, she was the first ironclad warship commissioned by the Union Navy.Monitor is most famous for her central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862, where, under the command of Lieutenant John Worden, she fought the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia (built on the hull of the former steam frigate USS Merrimack) to a standstill. The unique design of the ship, distinguished by its revolving turret which was designed by American inventor Theodore Timby, was quickly duplicated and established the monitor type of warship.
The remainder of the ship was designed by the Swedish-born engineer and inventor John Ericsson and hurriedly built in Brooklyn in only 101 days. Monitor presented a new concept in ship design and employed a variety of new inventions and innovations in ship building that caught the attention of the world. The impetus to build Monitor was prompted by the news that the Confederates were building an ironclad warship, named Virginia, that could effectively engage the Union ships blockading Hampton Roads and the James River leading to Richmond and ultimately advance on Washington, D.C. and other cities, virtually unchallenged. Before Monitor could reach Hampton Roads, the Confederate ironclad had destroyed the sail frigates USS Cumberland and USS Congress and had run the steam frigate USS Minnesota aground. That night Monitor arrived and the following morning, just as Virginia set to finish off Minnesota, the new Union ironclad confronted the Confederate ship, preventing her from wreaking further destruction on the wooden Union ships. A four-hour battle ensued, both ships pounding the other with close-range cannon fire, although neither ship could destroy or seriously damage the other. This was the first-ever battle fought between two armored warships and marked a turning point in naval warfare.
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