Tag Archives: Battle of Hampton Roads

An Ancient and Fearsome Weapon: The Ram

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Dwight Hughes

The ram—the main armament of sleek and swift Greek triremes powered by 180 rowers—turned back a Persian invasion at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC and launched Western Civilization. Rowing galleys ruled the Mediterranean for two more millennia, the … Continue reading →

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Sink Before Surrender: The CSS Virginia Gets Underway

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Dwight Hughes

In the dawn of that fateful Saturday, March 8, 1862, the CSS Virginia lay alongside the Gosport Shipyard quay on the west bank of the Elizabeth River across from Norfolk, Virginia, and just upriver from Hampton Roads. The storm passed … Continue reading →

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ECW Weekender: View from the Ramparts – Fortress Monroe, Virginia

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Dwight Hughes

In the gathering dusk of Saturday, March 8, 1862, a young Union telegrapher, John Emmet O’Brien, stood on the ramparts of Fortress Monroe on Old Point Comfort dominating the entrance to Hampton Roads, Virginia. He looked to the right and … Continue reading →

Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, ECW Weekender, National Park Service, Navies | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Around We Go: In the Monitor Turret

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Dwight Hughes

Lieutenant Samuel D. Greene, USN, had a problem. He was encased within a dim, claustrophobic, metal drum—20 feet in diameter—behind eight layers of bolted and riveted 1-inch-thick iron plates in charge of two immense 11-inch Dahlgren shell guns, each 13 … Continue reading →

Posted in Arms & Armaments, Artillery, Battles, Emerging Civil War, Navies, Weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Watching the “Merrimac”

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Dwight Hughes

One of the joys of a historian is finding that perfect eye-witness account of momentous events, one that puts you alongside our ancestors and sees through their eyes. The following is just such a viewpoint. “IN March, 1862, I was … Continue reading →

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Ironclad Superweapons of the Civil War: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Dwight Hughes

The clash of the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862 is considered a revolutionary event in naval warfare, but neither vessel quite lived up to the ambitious expectations of its sponsors. On a hot … Continue reading →

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