汉普顿锚地海战

经过

1862年3月8日海战开始，巨大但笨重的“弗吉尼亚”号铁甲舰进入汉普顿罗兹试图打破联邦的封锁。首先与一英哩远的“坎伯兰”号驳火，封锁就成了一般的战争。

后来，“弗吉尼亚”号在吃水线下猛烈撞击“坎伯兰”号，导致“坎伯兰”号迅速地下沉。

“弗吉尼亚”号转攻USS Congress。由于看到“坎伯兰”号的下场，它逃去浅水区，在以后的一小时内双方不断驳火，最后它因重创而投降。这时联邦的炮台向“弗吉尼亚”号开火，于是原被“弗吉尼亚”号压制的USS Congress开始用炽热的燃烧弹反击，最后USS Congress爆炸下沉。

“弗吉尼亚”号虽然大获胜利，但亦有损坏，因此速度也减慢了，而装甲板材也松开了。即使如此，“弗吉尼亚”号仍去攻击明尼苏达号蒸汽巡防舰，因为“明尼苏达”号已经搁浅。但“弗吉尼亚”号仍因为进不到沙洲而无法重创“明尼苏达”号。之后莫尼特号蒸汽炮舰杀出与它一场大战后发现都无法击穿对方装甲。于是各自撤退。

The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War.

The battle was fought over two days, March 8 and 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers meet the James River just before it flows into Chesapeake Bay by the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities and major industrial centers, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.

This battle was significant in that it was the first combat between ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from remnants of the burned steam frigate USS Merrimack) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy.

On that day, the Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the Union flotilla, USS Congress and USS Cumberland, and was about to attack a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darkness and falling tide, so Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded—which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan—and repair her minimal battle damage.

Determined to complete the destruction of Minnesota, Catesby ap Roger Jones, acting as captain in Buchanan's absence, returned the ship to the fray the next morning, March 9. During the night, however, the ironclad Monitor had arrived and had taken a position to defend Minnesota. When Virginia approached, Monitor intercepted her.……

Background

The blockade at Norfolk

On April 19, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities at Charleston Harbor, US President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of ports in the seceded states.……

Battle

Command

The Confederate chain of command was anomalous. Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones had directed much of the conversion of Merrimack to Virginia, and he was disappointed when he was not named her captain. Jones was retained aboard Virginia, but only as her executive officer.……

March 8: Virginia wreaks havoc on wooden Union warships

The battle began when the large and unwieldy CSS Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads on the morning of March 8, 1862.……

Aftermath

Assessment

The victory claims that were made by both sides in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads were based on misinterpretations of the opponent's behavior and have been dismissed by present-day historians.……

Destruction of the combatants

The end came first for Virginia.……

Impact upon naval warfare

Both days of the battle attracted attention from almost all the world's navies. USS Monitor became the prototype for the monitor warship type. She thus became the first of two ships whose names were applied to entire classes of their successors, the other being HMS Dreadnought.……

Commemorating the battle: Virginia

The name of the warship that served the Confederacy in the Battle of Hampton Roads has been a continuing source of confusion and some contention. She was originally a screw frigate in the United States Navy carrying the name USS Merrimack.……

Commemorating the battle: Monitor

After resting undetected on the ocean floor for 111 years, the wreck of Monitor was located by a team of scientists in 1973. The remains of the ship were found upside down 16 mi (26 km) off Cape Hatteras, on a relatively flat, sandy bottom at a depth of about 240 ft (73 m).……

Commemorating the Battle of Hampton Roads

The Battle of Hampton Roads was a significant event in both Naval and Civil War history that has been detailed in many books, televised Civil War documentaries, and in film, to include TNT's 1991 Ironclads.……

References in popular culture

The film Hearts in Bondage (Republic Pictures, 1936), directed by Lew Ayres, tells the story of the building of USS Monitor and the following Battle of Hampton Roads.

A 1991 made-for-television movie called Ironclads, produced by TNT, was made about the battle.