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KF5JRV > TODAY 09.03.19 13:27l 33 Lines 1643 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32441_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 09
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<JH4XSY<JE7YGF<VE3UIL<AB0AF<KF5JRV
Sent: 190309/1225Z 32441@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
During the American Civil War, the CSS Virginia, a captured and rebuilt
Union steam frigate formerly known as the Merrimac, engages the USS
Monitor in the first battle between iron-fortified naval vessels in
history.
The Confederate navy’s addition of iron plates to the captured USS
Merrimac steam frigate temporarily made it an unstoppable force in the
disputed waters of the Civil War. After seeing the Merrimac in action,
the Union navy constructed its own ironclad, the USS Monitor. On March
8, 1862, the Virginia attacked a Union squadron of wooden-hulled vessels
in Hampton Roads off the Virginia coast. The USS Congress, a frigate,
and the USS Cumberland, a sailing sloop, were easily sunk by the
Virginia, which suffered no noticeable damage. Late that night, the USS
Monitor arrived in the area. With its deck nearly at the water level,
the Monitor had an unassuming appearance, but it was a formidable match
for the Confederate ironclad.
On March 9, the two vessels engaged each other, and both the Monitor and
the Virginia suffered direct hits that failed to penetrate their iron
shells. Finally, after four hours, a cannon blast from the Virginia hit
the Monitor‘s pilothouse, temporarily blinding the ship’s captain, Union
Lieutenant John L. Worden. The Virginia was thus allowed to escape to
Norfolk, Virginia, and the Battle of the Ironclads ended in a draw. Two
months later, the Virginia was trapped in Norfolk by advancing Union
forces, and its Confederate crew blew up the fearful vessel rather than
allow it to fall into Union hands.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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