At the beginning of the American Civil War, the Union's leadership decided to strangle the trade of the Confederate States by blockading its ports and destroying its ships. The South fought back by equipping blockade runners. They also recuperated a burned ship hull and decided to clad it in iron, resurrecting the Merrimack and renaming it the Virginia, the first iron ship. The North entered the race to build an iron ship, and soon the Monitor, which adopted a radically different design, was put out to sea. Designed by John Ericsson, the ship featured a turret above water, with the rest of the ship below the water line.
The two steam-powered ironclads met in in waters known as Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Virginia, and though the battle was a draw, with neither ship able to disable or destroy the other, the limitation of the Merrimack forced it to depart the battle, and advancing Union forces led to the ship being scuttled to avoid it falling into enemy hands. The Monitor, for its part, sank on December 31, 1862 on its way to support the naval blockade of North Carolina.
Filled with memorable characters and significant history, the ironclads ushered in a new era of naval warfare and revolutionized the way combat was conducted. Illustrated with vivid pictures, and filled with details and impressive feats by sailors and soldiers, Big Bad Ironclad! will be appreciated by fans of the Civil War and of history.
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