On October 12, 1861, CSS Manassas became the first ironclad to see combat at the Battle of the Head of Passes on the Mississippi River. Protected by iron or steel armor plates, ironclads held a ...

The idea of armoring ships was ancient, and gained serious attention from the dawn of muskets and cannons at sea. In the 16th and 17th centuries, as European warships grew increasingly large and ...

On March 9, 1862, Confederate Navy ship CSS Virginia and Union navy ship USS Monitor met in battle off the coast of Virginia. Their clash was inconclusive, but the battle was the first time metal ...

Had you been around 155 years ago, and stood on the Virginia shore on a March day in 1862, you would have witnessed the most astounding sight. You would have glimpsed a ship the likes of which you had ...

Here’s What You Need to Remember: The warship spent the next two years in the Washington Navy Yard, until it was seen by a Japanese purchasing agent that had been sent by the Japanese Tokugawa ...

Few days opened more darkly for the U.S. Navy than March 9, 1862. Mangled by the lethal guns and armored sides of the CSS Virginia on the previous afternoon, the Union fleet in Hampton Roads still ...