History of the Monitor

A Revolutionary Vessel

Officers and turret on board USS Monitor, 1862 (Photo: #NH 61923)

The Monitor has been called the most famous ship in American history. Its inventor, Swedish-American engineer John Ericsson, was anything but ordinary. The building of iron ships was not in itself revolutionary in the 1800s, but Ericsson was suggesting the use of iron as a protective plate rather than simply as a building material. In 1854 he presented a conceptual design of a steam-powered ironclad ship with rotating gun turret to Napoleon III of France. The concept, rejected by France, was accepted by the United States and would soon become the USS Monitor.

Built in approximately 100 days at the Continental Ironworks in New York, the Monitor was a technological feat. It was equipped with an Ericsson-designed propeller, engine and 21 ½ foot in diameter rotating gun turret. The turret was the first of its kind and turrets similar to Ericsson’s design are still seen on modern warships. In a time when naval power traditionally consisted of wooden tall ships with gun ports, the Monitor was constructed almost entirely of iron. The engineering spaces, crew and officer quarters and galley were all located below the water line.

Battle of Hampton Roads

The Monitor was launched from Greenpoint, New York on January 30, 1862. The Confederate ironclad Virginia, launched on February 17, 1862. She was constructed over the modified hull of the USS Merrimack. Confederates had salvaged the Merrimack after she was burned and scuttled by Union forces. Because of the threat that the Virginia posed to the Federal fleet at Hampton Roads, the Monitor was ordered to that area in early March following modifications to solve problems encountered during sea trials. She arrived at Hampton Roads the night of March 8. Earlier that day the Virginia had engaged the Federal fleet, destroying the wooden frigates Cumberland and Congress. The Minnesota had been damaged and stranded before the Virginia retired to sheltered anchorage near Norfolk. When the Virginia steamed out to finish off the Minnesota early on the morning of March 9, she was met by the Monitor.

Transverse section through turret. (Photo: Naval Historical Center)

In the ensuing four-hour battle, the two vessels frequently bombarded each other at pointblank range with no substantial damage to either vessel. However, a shell exploded in the view-port of the Monitor’s pilot house, temporarily blinding Captain John Worden. The Monitor’s Executive Officer, Samuel Dana Green, assumed command and ordered the Monitor into shallow water, where the Virginia could not follow, to assess the captain’s wounds and damage to the ship. The Virginia’s captain, assuming the Monitor was withdrawing from battle, withdrew in supposed victory. When the Monitor returned to resume the engagement and found the Virginia gone, her crew also assumed victory.

A Shallow Victory

In reality, the battle was a virtual draw with neither vessel inflicting serious damage to the other. The Monitor was successful in protecting the stranded Minnesota from destruction, while the Virginia prevented the Monitor from advancing up the James River toward Richmond. Although the Monitor remained in Hampton Roads throughout the spring and summer of 1862, the two vessels never again met in battle. In May of that year, trapped between advancing Union forces and the bar at the mouth of the James River, the Virginia’s crew destroyed her to prevent capture.

The Wreck of the Iron-clad Monitor , off Cape Hatteras, 30-31 December 1862 (Photo: #NH 58758)

With the exception of the engagement with the Virginia, the Monitor’s brief career was uneventful. Shortly after midnight on December 31, 1862, while under tow by the Rhode Island to Beaufort, North Carolina for repairs, the Monitor sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The loss of the vessel known as “the little cheesebox-on-a-raft” was described by Paymaster William Keeler in a series of letters to his wife Anna. Keeler’s letters provide us with a taste of what life was like aboard the ironclad.

Keeler described the mounting fear of the officers and crew as the vessel took on water and waves broke over the top of the turret, completely submerging the deck. Lifeboats from the Rhode Island removed many of the Monitor’s crew during the storm. The rescued crewmen stood on the deck of the Rhode Island watching the red lantern that was hanging from the Monitor’s turret as it disappeared behind a wave only to reappear again to the cheers of the frightened crewmen. Finally the lantern disappeared for the last time. Wrote Keeler, “The Monitor is no more. What the fire of the enemy failed to do, the elements have accomplished.” Sixteen crewmen lost their lives, most from being swept overboard while attempting to reach the lifeboats.

Profile plan of the USS Monitor. Click here for a larger image. (Photo: Joe Hines)