James F. Gibson: Sailors relaxing on deck of the U.S.S. Monitor (1862)

(Library of Congress, Washington D.C. USA)

A vintage photo made by the American photographer James F. Gibson (1828/29-?). The U.S.S. Monitor was an iron-hulled steam-powered ironclad warship during the American civil war (1861-1865). When the US government learned that the Confederate States were building an iron-plated armored vessel, named the CSS Virginia (built on the hull of the scuttled steam frigate USS Merrimack), the navy commissioned also a iron-plated armored vessel to counter the threat. The USS Monitor was designed by the Swedish-born engineer and inventor John Ericsson (1803 – 1889) and hurriedly built in only 101 days. The ship was made completely made from iron, had a revolving armored turret (designed by American inventor Theodore Timby,) and was placed on a flat deck. It was armed with two 11-inch (280 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns which were placed in the armored turret so it could fire in all directions. The first action the USS Monitor saw was against its rival - the CSS Virginia. In an attempt to break the Union blockade, the CSS Virginia sailed towards Hampton Roads were about 11 Union ships (5 wooden frigates and several support vessels) were anchored. On the morning of March 8, 1862 the CSS Virginia attacked the /Union fleet and managed to sink 2 frigates and damage 2 - the Union frigates were powerless against the heavily armored Virginia. The next day the USS Monitor arrived and engaged the CSS Virginia in combat (to the amazement of the Confederates: the USS Monitor was described as a "cheesebox on a raft", had no sails, no visible guns, no chimney and a large part of the ship was under water) - the first battle fought between armored warships and which marked a turning point in naval warfare. The fight between both ships lasted for four hours in which each of them were unable to neither destroy or seriously damage the other. Both sides disengaged from the battle with the Union blockade still in place. This photo was taken on July 9, 1862 when the USS Monitor was patrolling on the James River in support of the Union army and General McClellan's campaign against Richmond. Photo from 1862.