ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Two ships that changed the course of history during the American Civil War: The Monitor and the Merrimack. Many historians believe that the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862 was a defining point in naval history with the transition from wooden sailing vessels to the age of steam and iron. The first Iron armored ships experienced a trial by fire in the war and proved the effectiveness of metal as a shipbuilding material instead of just wood.
In Part 2, we review the North’s response in the new arms race and how they built their own ironclad vessel to destroy the South’s new superweapon. Built through the ingenious ship design of inventor John Ericsson, the USS Monitor would become the Union’s main challenger to the South’s Ironclad the Merrimack (also known as the CSS Virginia). It was no easy sailing; see the struggle the Union experienced as they tried to surpass the South in creating a new super weapon that could potentially make previous navies obsolete.
