How Did The Merrimack And Monitor Really Change The Face Of Naval Warfare?

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The battle of the Merrimack and Monitor was a very important battle that changed the face of the U.S. Navy to how we see it today. It was the “battle of Hampton Roads aka the battle of the Ironclads” and the battle took place near Hampton Roads,Virginia. So how did the battle of the merrimack and monitor specifically change the face of Naval Warfare? The battle of hampton roads, some would say it was a victory for the Merrimack(south) but then others could say that it was a tie for the two ironclads. In my opinion it was more of a victory for the Merrimack because upon shooting the monitor’s(north) pilothouse and driving iron splinters into the pilot’s eyes then the ship sheered into shallow water after. Then shortly after the Merrimack’s …show more content…

Navy as we see it now? After the U.S. had fell dramatically behind other countries in modernizing our navy we took action and commissioned the first steel ships, first of their kind, the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Dolphin. They were known as the “ABCD ships”. They were a hybrid of new and old technology. They were able to run off their powerful steam engine, but if needed they could use sails as a source of maneuverability. Then by the 1890s the US had constructed a fleet of Steel ships with no sails and running just purely off of their steam engines. Not only did the ship have changes to it self but the guns on the ships were modified too. At first the Navy used heavy single caliber guns but, then noticed that the guns were to slow to use against fast moving ships. They then developed the the quick firing guns. “The weapons' breeches did not need to seal nearly as elaborately as on previous guns, hence they could be worked more rapidly”. Then they applied that mechanism to medium-caliber guns allowing the ships to tear up other ships in the less heavily armored places. Then after the 1898 the U.S. had their three main calibers Heavy(12 inch), medium(8 inch), and QF(6 then later 7

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