WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:01.313 [Shannon Ricles] All right. 2 00:00:01.313 --> 00:00:02.250 Well, hi, everyone. 3 00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:03.230 Welcome to the webinar. 4 00:00:03.230 --> 00:00:06.150 Today we commemorate the 160th anniversary 5 00:00:06.150 --> 00:00:07.790 of The Battle of Hampton Roads. 6 00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:10.120 The battle where iron met iron for the first time 7 00:00:10.120 --> 00:00:13.720 as the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia engaged in a battle 8 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:15.983 that changed history and naval warfare. 9 00:00:18.200 --> 00:00:20.400 And to tell us more about the battle and who won, 10 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:23.263 we welcome John Quarstein as our guest speaker today. 11 00:00:24.190 --> 00:00:25.670 And this webinar is brought to you 12 00:00:25.670 --> 00:00:28.310 by NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary 13 00:00:30.020 --> 00:00:32.160 in collaboration with the North Carolina Office 14 00:00:32.160 --> 00:00:34.060 of State Archeology. 15 00:00:34.060 --> 00:00:36.690 I'm Shannon Ricles, the education and outreach coordinator 16 00:00:36.690 --> 00:00:39.140 for Monitor and Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuaries 17 00:00:39.140 --> 00:00:41.150 and I'm gonna be your host today. 18 00:00:41.150 --> 00:00:43.893 And joining me as my co-host is Mark Losavio, 19 00:00:43.893 --> 00:00:46.620 the media and outreach coordinator for Monitor 20 00:00:46.620 --> 00:00:48.340 and Mallows as well. 21 00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:50.530 And we also have Tane Casserley. 22 00:00:50.530 --> 00:00:52.910 Who's going to be introducing John today, 23 00:00:52.910 --> 00:00:55.550 and he is Monitor and Mallow's resource protection 24 00:00:55.550 --> 00:00:57.093 and permit coordinator. 25 00:00:59.150 --> 00:01:00.950 Now partnering since 1975, 26 00:01:00.950 --> 00:01:03.770 NOAA and the state of North Carolina work to research honor 27 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:06.470 and protect the hallmarks of North Carolina's underwater, 28 00:01:06.470 --> 00:01:08.560 cultural heritage, shipwrecks. 29 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.200 Now these shipwrecks hold information 30 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.700 about the ever-changing technologies and cultural 31 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:14.190 and physical landscapes. 32 00:01:14.190 --> 00:01:17.170 They serve as a uniquely accessible underwater museum 33 00:01:17.170 --> 00:01:19.960 and a memorial to generations of mariners who lived, died, 34 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:22.030 worked, and fought off our shores. 35 00:01:22.030 --> 00:01:24.480 This is one of the many webinars we will be hosting 36 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:25.930 in the coming months, 37 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:29.290 for the Submerged NC webinar series in collaboration 38 00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:32.143 with the North Carolina Office of State Archeology. 39 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:36.340 Now Monitor is just one of 15 national marine sanctuaries 40 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:38.340 and two marine national monuments in the 41 00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:40.270 National Marine Sanctuary System. 42 00:01:40.270 --> 00:01:43.604 The system encompasses more than 620,000 square miles 43 00:01:43.604 --> 00:01:46.750 of marine and Great Lakes waters from Washington State 44 00:01:46.750 --> 00:01:49.350 to Florida Keys from Lake Huron. 45 00:01:49.350 --> 00:01:53.160 Sorry about that from Lake Huron and American Samoa. 46 00:01:53.160 --> 00:01:54.860 Now during the presentation, 47 00:01:54.860 --> 00:01:57.060 all attendees will be in listen only mode, 48 00:01:57.060 --> 00:01:59.390 and you're welcome to type your questions for the presenters 49 00:01:59.390 --> 00:02:02.160 into the question box at the bottom of the control panel 50 00:02:02.160 --> 00:02:03.990 on the right hand side of your screen. 51 00:02:03.990 --> 00:02:05.740 And this is the same area you can let us know 52 00:02:05.740 --> 00:02:08.040 about any technical difficulties you may be having, 53 00:02:08.040 --> 00:02:11.160 and we will get to you just as soon as we can. 54 00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:12.990 So I'm going to turn it over to Tane now 55 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:14.653 to do the introduction of John. 56 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:16.790 [Tane Casserley] Thank you Shannon. 57 00:02:16.790 --> 00:02:19.580 It's my distinct pleasure today to be introducing 58 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:21.760 author and historian, John Quarstein. 59 00:02:21.760 --> 00:02:23.930 Very proud to be standing here with my NOAA shipmates, 60 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:25.430 Shannon and Mark, 61 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:27.510 to really talk about this really important history 62 00:02:27.510 --> 00:02:28.690 and this partnership. 63 00:02:28.690 --> 00:02:32.450 So, you know, we have a long history with working 64 00:02:32.450 --> 00:02:33.930 with The Mariners' Museum and Park. 65 00:02:33.930 --> 00:02:35.510 They're our second longest partner 66 00:02:35.510 --> 00:02:38.470 after the North Carolina Office of State Archeology, 67 00:02:38.470 --> 00:02:41.520 So they're very near and dear to our hearts. 68 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.990 We've partnered with them since 1987, when 69 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:47.680 they became NOAA's central repository for Monitor artifacts 70 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:48.513 and conservation. 71 00:02:48.513 --> 00:02:50.140 And through this 35-year history, 72 00:02:50.140 --> 00:02:53.630 we've done incredible things, telling Monitor's story, 73 00:02:53.630 --> 00:02:55.650 conserving these incredible materials, 74 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:58.290 including the gun turret, that first rotating gun turret 75 00:02:58.290 --> 00:03:00.910 in the history of the world that went to war. 76 00:03:00.910 --> 00:03:02.620 And of course the USS Monitor Center 77 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:04.020 and things like we're doing today. 78 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:05.506 So we're very proud to be partnering, 79 00:03:05.506 --> 00:03:07.720 and we're very excited to be talking about things 80 00:03:07.720 --> 00:03:09.100 we'll be doing in the future as well. 81 00:03:09.100 --> 00:03:10.450 So one of those is, 82 00:03:10.450 --> 00:03:12.910 as Shannon mentioned, is the 160th anniversary 83 00:03:12.910 --> 00:03:14.010 of Monitor. 84 00:03:14.010 --> 00:03:16.060 It's the 160th anniversary of the launch 85 00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:17.370 on January 30th. 86 00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:18.830 The Battle of Hampton Roads of course 87 00:03:18.830 --> 00:03:19.830 on March 8th and 9th, 88 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.500 and then the sinking event on December 31st. 89 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:23.990 So this will be several... 90 00:03:23.990 --> 00:03:26.300 One of several events that we'll be talking 91 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:27.920 about in celebrating that history. 92 00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:31.530 We'll also be looking at the museum. We'll be having events 93 00:03:31.530 --> 00:03:35.260 on March 11th with a lecture with John, 94 00:03:35.260 --> 00:03:37.260 as well as the 12th. There's activities there 95 00:03:37.260 --> 00:03:39.340 for kids programming and further lectures 96 00:03:39.340 --> 00:03:41.300 by John and the conservation team. 97 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:42.133 And we're also really excited to help bring Monitor's story 98 00:03:42.133 --> 00:03:45.414 to the masses using the latest technology in May, 99 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:51.560 when we do a telepresence project with a group 100 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:53.080 called the Global Foundation for Ocean 101 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:53.913 Exploration. 102 00:03:53.913 --> 00:03:56.080 We will be actually taking ROVs, 103 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.300 remotely operated vehicles, down to the Monitor shipwreck 104 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:01.870 and beam back live images and stories 105 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:03.460 of the Monitor shipwreck. 106 00:04:03.460 --> 00:04:04.990 And we'd love to have you there and invite you 107 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:08.510 to tell that story for America's greatest shipwreck. 108 00:04:08.510 --> 00:04:12.320 So it is my distinct pleasure to introduce John Quarstein, 109 00:04:12.320 --> 00:04:14.537 author historian and director emeritus 110 00:04:14.537 --> 00:04:18.150 of the USS Monitor Center at The Mariners' Museum and Park 111 00:04:18.150 --> 00:04:19.093 John, it's yours. 112 00:04:20.580 --> 00:04:25.073 [John Quarstein] Spring 1862 was a dark time for the 113 00:04:26.080 --> 00:04:29.300 Confederacy. Defeats along the Mississippi Valley, 114 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:34.000 the North Carolina coast with a huge Union army 115 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:35.910 in Washington D.C, 116 00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:39.840 ready to strike against the Confederate capital at Richmond. 117 00:04:39.840 --> 00:04:44.840 When the CSS Virginia entered Hampton Roads 118 00:04:47.210 --> 00:04:52.210 and began to change the tide in behalf of the Confederacy. 119 00:04:52.610 --> 00:04:57.140 That day, they proved the power of iron over wood. 120 00:04:57.140 --> 00:05:01.440 However, the next , it became a clash of irons, 121 00:05:01.440 --> 00:05:04.950 which proved all the more, all new ships 122 00:05:04.950 --> 00:05:08.780 were gonna have to be made of iron, 123 00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:11.610 with heavy guns, rifle guns. 124 00:05:11.610 --> 00:05:16.070 And this begins the evolution of naval warfare 125 00:05:16.070 --> 00:05:20.430 that will last all the way through the 19th century 126 00:05:20.430 --> 00:05:22.383 and into the 20th century. 127 00:05:23.260 --> 00:05:27.150 Well, you know, let's tell a little background to our story. 128 00:05:27.150 --> 00:05:29.830 This is the USS Merrimack. 129 00:05:29.830 --> 00:05:34.120 The USS Merrimack is of course a steam screw frigate, 130 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.977 which was called the novel example of naval architecture 131 00:05:36.977 --> 00:05:38.417 when it was launched. 132 00:05:39.710 --> 00:05:43.560 You can see it has two different types of motor power, 133 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:45.500 steam and sail. 134 00:05:45.500 --> 00:05:49.380 The trouble is they had to build a very sheer hull 135 00:05:49.380 --> 00:05:53.190 to make it a sailor, the steam was auxiliary. 136 00:05:53.190 --> 00:05:58.190 Those steam engines failed and so in February of 1860, 137 00:05:58.690 --> 00:06:00.800 the USS Merrimack, 138 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.613 and just spell it always with a K at the end, 139 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:09.480 was placed in ordinary at Gosport Navy Yard 140 00:06:09.610 --> 00:06:11.143 in Portsmouth, Virginia. 141 00:06:12.260 --> 00:06:14.100 Of course, as we know, 142 00:06:14.100 --> 00:06:17.300 dark clouds come with the secessionist movement 143 00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:22.300 and Virginia will leave the Union on April 17th, 1861. 144 00:06:24.750 --> 00:06:28.630 The federals tried to destroy Gosport Navy Yard, 145 00:06:28.630 --> 00:06:30.940 but they didn't do a good job. 146 00:06:30.940 --> 00:06:34.750 They lit the Merrimack on fire, 147 00:06:34.750 --> 00:06:37.730 but someone else pulled its seacox. 148 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:40.040 My big question always is, 149 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:45.040 how well does a burning ship burn when it sinks? 150 00:06:45.350 --> 00:06:46.780 Not well. 151 00:06:46.780 --> 00:06:51.030 They really did not destroy only half the yard. 152 00:06:51.030 --> 00:06:53.500 And so that gave the Confederacy, 153 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:58.500 the wherewithal to transform the damaged hull 154 00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:02.750 and its engines of the Merrimack 155 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:07.750 into the powerful ironclad ram, the CSS Virginia. 156 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:10.870 Take a look at it here. 157 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:14.410 This is in dry dock. What makes this a powerful vessel? 158 00:07:14.410 --> 00:07:18.360 Number one, it was actually a submerge tow. 159 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:23.360 Number two, it is armed with some of the best ordinance 160 00:07:24.110 --> 00:07:28.010 available in 1861. 161 00:07:28.010 --> 00:07:32.040 They have rifled Brooke guns, 162 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:34.820 which that meant it had greater range. 163 00:07:34.820 --> 00:07:38.550 And actually Brookewin inventing this rifle. 164 00:07:38.550 --> 00:07:43.030 He also invented the first armor piercing shot. 165 00:07:43.030 --> 00:07:45.610 Then going down the hull, 166 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:50.610 we see a 6.4-inch Brooke rifle and then 167 00:07:51.250 --> 00:07:56.250 one 9-inch Dahlgren that's fitted to fire hot shot, 168 00:07:57.230 --> 00:07:59.140 which as you can imagine, 169 00:07:59.140 --> 00:08:03.823 a red hot shot going into the side of a wooden ship. 170 00:08:04.710 --> 00:08:06.400 The shot wins in that. 171 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:07.233 And then two more 9-inch Dahlgrens 172 00:08:07.233 --> 00:08:08.066 at the stern, another 7-inch. 173 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:14.810 So this is a pretty powerful ship. 174 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:16.626 However, it is an airsoft ship. 175 00:08:16.626 --> 00:08:19.266 It is an amazing combination 176 00:08:21.020 --> 00:08:26.020 and improvisation of materials at hand. 177 00:08:26.140 --> 00:08:28.510 This gave the Confederacy... 178 00:08:28.510 --> 00:08:31.090 They started building this in June. 179 00:08:31.090 --> 00:08:33.950 The federals had no ironclads. 180 00:08:33.950 --> 00:08:38.950 So if the Confederacy could finish this ship quickly enough, 181 00:08:39.780 --> 00:08:43.710 they could actually rule the waves. 182 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:45.400 Now the ship has a lot of problems. 183 00:08:45.400 --> 00:08:46.233 32-foot draft, the engines are compromised by their design 184 00:08:46.233 --> 00:08:49.733 and being in the saltwater of Elizabeth River, 185 00:08:56.400 --> 00:08:59.100 but nevertheless, the Confederates have made it work. 186 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:01.770 And they added that ram. 187 00:09:01.770 --> 00:09:05.430 You know, we had really ram ships since 1571, 188 00:09:05.430 --> 00:09:07.360 The Battle of Lepanto. 189 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:11.530 So this ship has a ram, why? 190 00:09:11.530 --> 00:09:14.340 Well, number one, to ram into those wooden ships, 191 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:18.483 but number two, the Confederacy lacks gun powder. 192 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.150 So this is the scene for Hampton Roads. 193 00:09:24.150 --> 00:09:28.690 And the federals have this powerful fleet there, 194 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:31.993 blockading Norfolk and the James River. 195 00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:34.580 From Newport News Point, 196 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:37.053 we have the Cumberland, the Congress, 197 00:09:38.010 --> 00:09:40.660 the Minnesota, Roanoke, Lawrence, 198 00:09:40.660 --> 00:09:44.920 and then some other support ships. 199 00:09:44.920 --> 00:09:48.030 Five major capital ships. 200 00:09:48.030 --> 00:09:51.670 So that's a pretty major accomplishment. 201 00:09:51.670 --> 00:09:53.890 As you can see from the Virginia, 202 00:09:53.890 --> 00:09:55.720 she has a seven point... 203 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:58.650 The 7-inch Brooke gun is on a pivot mount 204 00:09:58.650 --> 00:10:02.143 and basically, the hull is made of wood. 205 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:07.080 So let me just tell you. 206 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:12.080 On the midday on March 8th, 1862, 207 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:14.330 the commander of the Virginia 208 00:10:14.330 --> 00:10:17.870 brings the ship down towards Craney Island. 209 00:10:17.870 --> 00:10:19.510 And then he slows the ship 210 00:10:19.510 --> 00:10:22.917 and gives his men this admonition, 211 00:10:22.917 --> 00:10:26.440 "Today you will do your duty, not just your duty, 212 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:30.140 but more than your duty. Those ships..." 213 00:10:30.140 --> 00:10:32.567 He points at the federal ships in Hampton Roads. 214 00:10:32.567 --> 00:10:37.260 "Must be taken. Some of you all have complained. 215 00:10:37.260 --> 00:10:39.540 I have not taken you close to the enemy. 216 00:10:39.540 --> 00:10:43.730 I will take you there now. To your cannons. 217 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:47.040 We will sink before surrender." 218 00:10:47.040 --> 00:10:49.560 Oddly, one of the surgeons on the Virginia 219 00:10:49.560 --> 00:10:50.737 comes up and says, 220 00:10:50.737 --> 00:10:53.580 "Wait a second. This ship is untried." 221 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:56.497 And Buchanan merely retorts, 222 00:10:56.497 --> 00:10:58.990 "If we sink the enemy fleet today, 223 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:01.603 we know our ship is a success. 224 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:05.720 If we fail, then we know we are a failure." 225 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:08.100 So that's good odds. 226 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:11.110 And so the Virginia takes an hour and a half to get 227 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:14.830 across from Craney island to Newport News Point, 228 00:11:14.830 --> 00:11:19.830 where it dramatically sinks the USS Cumberland, 229 00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:25.320 a 24-gun sailing sloop of war, 230 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:28.050 which Buchanan wants to attack first 231 00:11:28.050 --> 00:11:31.603 because he knows it has a rifle gun on board. 232 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:36.730 At about three o'clock in the afternoon, 233 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:39.980 when the Virginia rams the Cumberland, 234 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:43.970 it proves the power of iron over wood. 235 00:11:43.970 --> 00:11:46.460 This is a big change in history. 236 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:49.170 So the Cumberland however, 237 00:11:49.170 --> 00:11:50.750 doesn't sink right away 238 00:11:50.750 --> 00:11:54.346 and causes most of the damage to the Virginia. 239 00:11:54.346 --> 00:11:58.220 Reals its smoke stack, blows off two of her gun muzzles 240 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:01.050 railing shot away, cutter shot away. 241 00:12:01.050 --> 00:12:04.310 Nevertheless, the Virginia is not deterred 242 00:12:04.310 --> 00:12:09.310 and the ship will then attack another Union frigate 243 00:12:09.560 --> 00:12:12.280 known as the USS Congress, 244 00:12:12.280 --> 00:12:17.280 which is powerless to do anything to defend itself. 245 00:12:18.870 --> 00:12:23.330 It actually has already been damaged when the Virginia 246 00:12:23.330 --> 00:12:27.380 went past it after the Cumberland, which in this slide, 247 00:12:27.380 --> 00:12:32.380 you can see the mass out of the water. 248 00:12:32.380 --> 00:12:37.380 And so the Virginia actually comes within a hundred yards 249 00:12:37.900 --> 00:12:42.900 and will be bombarding the Congress with shells 250 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.970 and hotshot that causes fire. 251 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:51.400 The shells decapitate the acting commander 252 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:54.420 of the Congress, Lieutenant Joseph Smith, 253 00:12:54.420 --> 00:12:57.890 and basically the ship surrenders. 254 00:12:57.890 --> 00:13:02.050 Buchanan orders some of his supporting tugboats alongside 255 00:13:02.050 --> 00:13:05.110 take off wounded officers. 256 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:09.010 However, the Union soldiers at the shore are not happy 257 00:13:09.010 --> 00:13:10.240 with what they see. 258 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:14.750 They begin shooting at both the Beaufort and the Raleigh 259 00:13:14.750 --> 00:13:18.370 but also, Buchanan becomes enraged. 260 00:13:18.370 --> 00:13:20.770 He stands up on the top of the deck 261 00:13:20.770 --> 00:13:24.493 and starts shooting at the Union soldiers on the shore. 262 00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:28.130 Of course, if I was one of those Union soldiers, 263 00:13:28.130 --> 00:13:32.560 I'd fire back and Buchanan is grievously wounded. 264 00:13:32.560 --> 00:13:37.560 He is hit in the thigh, scratching his femoral artery. 265 00:13:38.987 --> 00:13:43.610 And so he's taken below and tells his executive officer 266 00:13:43.610 --> 00:13:48.420 Catesby Ap Jones, sink that damn Union ship. 267 00:13:48.420 --> 00:13:51.303 Fill her full of hotshot till she glows. 268 00:13:52.470 --> 00:13:56.730 Well that night, the Virginia will go back 269 00:13:56.730 --> 00:14:00.830 out of Hampton Roads and will actually damage 270 00:14:00.830 --> 00:14:03.840 several other Union ships. 271 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.750 Damaged the Zouave, damaged the Minnesota, 272 00:14:07.750 --> 00:14:11.660 damages the St. Lawrence, all of whom have run a ground. 273 00:14:11.660 --> 00:14:12.900 And by the way, 274 00:14:12.900 --> 00:14:15.610 she also destroys two transports 275 00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:19.210 and captures another one known as the Reindeer. 276 00:14:19.210 --> 00:14:22.519 March 8th shocks the Union. 277 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.090 In fact, they fear that the Virginia 278 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:28.110 would soon be up the Potomac river. 279 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:28.943 Of course it couldn't go there 'cause of its draft 280 00:14:28.943 --> 00:14:29.776 But the fear that the Confederates have a super weapon 281 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:37.907 and in the discussions of the cabinet, Gideon Welles says, 282 00:14:37.907 --> 00:14:39.330 "Oh, wait a second. 283 00:14:39.330 --> 00:14:42.163 We have an ironclad going south right now." 284 00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:46.290 And Edward says, "Tell me about it, what is it? 285 00:14:46.290 --> 00:14:50.180 He says, "Well, it's the two gun Monitor." 286 00:14:50.180 --> 00:14:51.230 Back in the old days, 287 00:14:51.230 --> 00:14:54.500 how many guns you had usually gave you victory 288 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.723 and Stanton laments. 289 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:02.930 And when I mention the Monitor, 290 00:15:02.930 --> 00:15:05.730 this is the design of the Monitor. 291 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:09.210 As a result of the Confederate ironclad construction, 292 00:15:09.210 --> 00:15:12.270 The Union will set up an ironclad board. 293 00:15:12.270 --> 00:15:16.853 And one of those ship selected is the John Ericsson design, 294 00:15:17.970 --> 00:15:19.860 USS Monitor. 295 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:23.020 And so, as you can see, it's got a revolving turret. 296 00:15:23.020 --> 00:15:26.510 It is virtually flush with the water, 297 00:15:26.510 --> 00:15:29.130 that's 18 inches of freeboard 298 00:15:29.130 --> 00:15:33.170 and everybody lives in the hull below. 299 00:15:33.170 --> 00:15:35.010 They actually have, you know, 300 00:15:35.010 --> 00:15:37.760 Ericsson has a hundred patented items. 301 00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:42.200 30 some, he donates to the Union Navy. 302 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:46.290 So this ship takes a little over a hundred days to build 303 00:15:46.290 --> 00:15:51.290 thanks to the Northern industrial superiority. 304 00:15:52.380 --> 00:15:55.100 So now this is a great map. 305 00:15:55.100 --> 00:16:00.100 So it's gonna show basically what happens on March 8th. 306 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:02.730 This is a tremendous Confederate victory. 307 00:16:02.730 --> 00:16:05.740 Now, if you notice it comes, destroys the Cumberland, 308 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:09.910 destroys the Congress, damages the Zouave 309 00:16:09.910 --> 00:16:13.940 and then damages the grounded Minnesota, 310 00:16:13.940 --> 00:16:16.640 the grounded St. Lawrence. 311 00:16:16.640 --> 00:16:20.930 It hits the White Hall and damages it. 312 00:16:20.930 --> 00:16:22.690 And then the Roanoke, 313 00:16:22.690 --> 00:16:26.440 which runs aground and will finally escape. 314 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:30.600 So does the St. Marks, but the Minnesota, 315 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:32.450 is a sitting duck. 316 00:16:32.450 --> 00:16:37.450 The Virginia by darkness comes down to a buoy that is right 317 00:16:39.010 --> 00:16:40.950 about near Sewells Point 318 00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:45.950 and awaits the 'morrow to destroy the Union fleet. 319 00:16:45.970 --> 00:16:48.680 Well, this because of Buchanan's wounding, 320 00:16:48.680 --> 00:16:53.330 this man will be in command of the Virginia 321 00:16:53.330 --> 00:16:55.200 for the next day's action. 322 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.290 He is Commander Catesby Ap Roger Jones, 323 00:16:59.290 --> 00:17:02.200 a brilliant Naval officer, 324 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:06.273 and he was executive officer of the Virginia. 325 00:17:07.730 --> 00:17:10.520 This of course is the man that becomes 326 00:17:10.520 --> 00:17:12.500 the hero of the Union. 327 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:16.910 He is John Lorimer Worden, a Lieutenant. 328 00:17:16.910 --> 00:17:20.830 He, when given the assignment to go command the Monitor, 329 00:17:20.830 --> 00:17:23.710 he's known as a scientific officer. 330 00:17:23.710 --> 00:17:25.210 He goes alongside it. 331 00:17:25.210 --> 00:17:27.580 And he says, "Yes, I'll take the command. 332 00:17:27.580 --> 00:17:32.410 I will be the agent to prove it a success." 333 00:17:32.410 --> 00:17:33.730 Wow. 334 00:17:33.730 --> 00:17:36.340 So you can see what's unusual about the Monitor. 335 00:17:36.340 --> 00:17:38.880 Everything is beneath the waterline. 336 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.880 They even have to have flush commodes down below. 337 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:47.200 Half the people don't know what that means. 338 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:50.292 And so, you know, we got farmers, 339 00:17:50.292 --> 00:17:53.680 others, immigrants on board this ship. 340 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:58.417 So the sarge of the ship Daniel Logue will go and say, 341 00:17:58.417 --> 00:18:00.840 "I will test it for you." 342 00:18:00.840 --> 00:18:05.840 He hits the switch wrong and blows himself off the toilet. 343 00:18:05.970 --> 00:18:09.370 Well, that's the type of situation we have. 344 00:18:09.370 --> 00:18:11.453 All this new technology. 345 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.290 Well, the Monitor actually, because of that low freeboard 346 00:18:18.120 --> 00:18:22.180 has to be towed south by the Seth Low 347 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:27.180 and in doing so, it will almost sink two times. 348 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:32.030 However, by five o'clock on the afternoon 349 00:18:32.030 --> 00:18:37.030 of March 8th, 1862, the Monitor, 350 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:47.270 will clear Cape Charles entering the Chesapeake Bay. 351 00:18:47.270 --> 00:18:52.270 In the distance, Worden can see the splashes of gunfire. 352 00:18:52.870 --> 00:18:57.870 He can also see all the ships running out of Hampton Roads 353 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:02.323 as if like chickens chased by a fox. 354 00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:08.650 Well, the Monitor then goes alongside the Roanoke, 355 00:19:09.860 --> 00:19:11.057 Captain John Marston says, 356 00:19:11.057 --> 00:19:13.640 "Look, I got orders to send you to D.C. 357 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:18.007 You are going stay here and protect the Minnesota." 358 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:21.560 The Monitor goes next to the Minnesota and you can, 359 00:19:21.560 --> 00:19:25.350 well imagine it looks like a pygmy 360 00:19:25.350 --> 00:19:28.830 against a elephant in essence. 361 00:19:28.830 --> 00:19:33.640 So what happens? John Worden stands up on the deck, 362 00:19:33.640 --> 00:19:36.507 on top of the turret and shouts up. 363 00:19:36.507 --> 00:19:38.290 "I'm here to save you." 364 00:19:38.290 --> 00:19:42.120 And the commander of the Minnesota, 365 00:19:42.120 --> 00:19:46.097 Captain Gershom Jacques Henry Van Brunt looks down and says, 366 00:19:46.097 --> 00:19:47.170 "What are you?" 367 00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:49.780 And Worden says, "I'm the Monitor." 368 00:19:49.780 --> 00:19:52.057 And Van Brunt looks down and says, 369 00:19:52.057 --> 00:19:55.070 "Well, I don't know what you're gonna do tomorrow. 370 00:19:55.070 --> 00:19:58.600 But if that ship comes back, I'm gonna fight my ship. 371 00:19:58.600 --> 00:20:01.970 And I will sink before surrender." 372 00:20:01.970 --> 00:20:04.617 Worden merely says, "I will save you." 373 00:20:06.220 --> 00:20:09.100 At six o'clock in the morning, 374 00:20:09.100 --> 00:20:14.100 the Virginia crews go to their guns. 375 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:18.080 And I have to tell you, they wake up for a breakfast 376 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:22.550 with two boiled eggs and two jiggers of whiskey. 377 00:20:22.550 --> 00:20:24.520 That's the way to start your day. 378 00:20:24.520 --> 00:20:28.000 And fog delays its entrance into Hampton Roads, 379 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.040 but by eight o'clock, it moves towards the Minnesota. 380 00:20:32.040 --> 00:20:35.200 The Minnesota is shot at. 381 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:38.270 The first shot sears through the rigging. 382 00:20:38.270 --> 00:20:42.880 But all of a sudden this tin can on a shingle, 383 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:47.880 this cheese box on a raft will move away from the Minnesota 384 00:20:49.210 --> 00:20:52.587 and will engage the Virginia. 385 00:20:52.587 --> 00:20:56.330 The first battle between ironclad ships. 386 00:20:56.330 --> 00:20:58.530 They start to test each other out. 387 00:20:58.530 --> 00:21:02.980 The goal of the Virginia is to sink the Minnesota 388 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:04.670 and then deal with the Monitor. 389 00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:08.210 The Monitor's goal is to save the Minnesota 390 00:21:08.210 --> 00:21:11.323 and the rest of the Union fleet. 391 00:21:12.530 --> 00:21:16.840 This is a 4-hour long battle, 392 00:21:16.840 --> 00:21:20.433 and sometimes the ships virtually touch. 393 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:24.920 Basically, the Monitor has a lot of problems 394 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:26.050 during the battle. 395 00:21:26.050 --> 00:21:31.050 Number one, the turret has a speaking tube 396 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:33.700 with the pilothouse. 397 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:37.130 However it's filled with water and doesn't operate. 398 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:40.630 So they have to have runners going back from the pilot house 399 00:21:40.630 --> 00:21:42.850 to the turret. 400 00:21:42.850 --> 00:21:45.190 However, I gotta tell you, 401 00:21:45.190 --> 00:21:48.130 you can't really see out of the turret. 402 00:21:48.130 --> 00:21:53.130 And as a result of that, the Monitor has poor fire control. 403 00:21:54.820 --> 00:21:59.290 The Virginia, however, is leaking, it's slow. 404 00:21:59.290 --> 00:22:03.970 The Monitor goes 11 knots and furthermore, 405 00:22:03.970 --> 00:22:06.990 it has the wrong ammunition. 406 00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:10.160 Those Brooke bolts are back in Richmond. 407 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.690 So as a result of that, 408 00:22:12.690 --> 00:22:16.050 this battle is going to see them fight 409 00:22:16.050 --> 00:22:17.973 in concentric circles. 410 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:21.050 During early in the battle, 411 00:22:21.050 --> 00:22:23.630 the Monitor breaks off to bring more ammunition 412 00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:24.720 up in its turret. 413 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:27.800 The Virginia tries to go after the Minnesota, 414 00:22:27.800 --> 00:22:29.020 it runs aground. 415 00:22:29.020 --> 00:22:30.800 The Monitor comes alongside, 416 00:22:30.800 --> 00:22:35.800 but because they can't really see out of the turret, 417 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.620 I will have to tell you they have bad fire control. 418 00:22:40.620 --> 00:22:45.210 And actually the porthole is a little smaller than that. 419 00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:49.250 And so you well can imagine if you see something gray 420 00:22:49.250 --> 00:22:50.433 and dark as you turn the turn, 421 00:22:50.433 --> 00:22:54.520 'Cause the turret can't be stopped with any accuracy, 422 00:22:54.520 --> 00:22:57.300 'cause the linkage gears have rusted 423 00:22:57.300 --> 00:23:00.120 because it almost sank on the way down. 424 00:23:00.120 --> 00:23:04.380 So we have these several problems, 425 00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:07.030 'cause there are experimental ships, let me tell you. 426 00:23:07.030 --> 00:23:12.030 And so by the afternoon or midday, 427 00:23:14.860 --> 00:23:19.860 you know, after fighting in these great concentric circles, 428 00:23:20.100 --> 00:23:22.140 each ship having a goal, 429 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:24.920 one to block the other and the other one 430 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:28.070 is to get at that other federal ship. 431 00:23:28.070 --> 00:23:32.720 However, the Captain Worden sees the Virginia 432 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:35.100 riding a little high out of the water, 433 00:23:35.100 --> 00:23:40.100 'cause all the use of the gun powder, cannon balls and coal. 434 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:41.251 He says, 435 00:23:41.251 --> 00:23:46.251 "I'm gonna run right after the stern of the Virginia 436 00:23:46.550 --> 00:23:49.200 and ram her and disable her." 437 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.440 Well, I gotta tell you that when they get close 438 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:55.550 to their object, a steering malfunction, 439 00:23:55.550 --> 00:23:58.490 will make the Monitor veer off. 440 00:23:58.490 --> 00:24:00.290 And at that moment, 441 00:24:00.290 --> 00:24:03.770 Lieutenant John Taylor Wood, with a 7-inch Brooke gun, 442 00:24:03.770 --> 00:24:06.920 fires a shot that hits the pilot house 443 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:09.170 and blinds Worden. 444 00:24:09.170 --> 00:24:11.230 Worden actually thinks he's dying. 445 00:24:11.230 --> 00:24:12.820 He has to be... 446 00:24:12.820 --> 00:24:15.040 The ship goes off into the shoal. 447 00:24:15.040 --> 00:24:18.640 The only medal of honor winner that day 448 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.160 or recipient is going to be Peter Williams, 449 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.410 who is the guy that steered the ship onto the shoal, 450 00:24:25.410 --> 00:24:28.053 away from the Confederate ironclad. 451 00:24:28.963 --> 00:24:32.920 Samuel Dana Greene takes over. 452 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:37.487 He's a very young officer and he asks Worden, 453 00:24:37.487 --> 00:24:38.700 "What should I do?" 454 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:39.617 And Worden says, 455 00:24:39.617 --> 00:24:43.882 "Look, don't look at me. I'm blind, I'm dying. 456 00:24:43.882 --> 00:24:48.330 Do everything you can save the Minnesota." 457 00:24:48.330 --> 00:24:52.690 The Virginia tries to strike at the Minnesota. 458 00:24:52.690 --> 00:24:57.690 However, the tide's going out and it goes back to Norfolk. 459 00:24:57.800 --> 00:25:00.940 The Monitor after a half hour is finally 460 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:03.000 brought back into action 461 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:08.000 and they see the Virginia sailing into the Elizabeth River. 462 00:25:08.620 --> 00:25:12.778 They shout and share that they've won a great victory. 463 00:25:12.778 --> 00:25:16.793 However, this gets a little more complex. 464 00:25:17.670 --> 00:25:21.070 It is a drawn battle, in essence. 465 00:25:21.070 --> 00:25:25.210 However, you've got to think, that the Virginia, 466 00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:29.380 not only, I mean, just think of what the Virginia did. 467 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:33.110 It sank the Congress and Cumberland, it damaged the Zouave, 468 00:25:33.110 --> 00:25:36.110 it damaged the Minnesota, it damaged the St. Lawrence, 469 00:25:36.110 --> 00:25:38.730 it captures the transport Reindeer, 470 00:25:38.730 --> 00:25:43.730 it capture or sinks a transport Whilden and also the Arrago. 471 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.686 So this is a pretty bad situation. 472 00:25:49.686 --> 00:25:53.840 The next day, the Virginia sank the Dragon, 473 00:25:53.840 --> 00:25:57.663 it also damaged the Monitor and the Minnesota. 474 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:03.560 However, Gustavus Vasa Fox comes in and says, 475 00:26:03.627 --> 00:26:06.730 "You all have won a great victory." 476 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:09.900 And he writes to Gideon Welles, 477 00:26:09.900 --> 00:26:14.870 "The Monitor will probably win the next battle, 478 00:26:14.870 --> 00:26:17.170 but I'm not positive." 479 00:26:17.170 --> 00:26:18.930 Whoa, what does that mean? 480 00:26:18.930 --> 00:26:23.300 That the Monitor is a break to the Virginia. 481 00:26:23.300 --> 00:26:25.060 'Cause at this very time, 482 00:26:25.060 --> 00:26:29.200 this man, Major General George Ellis... 483 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:32.730 Excuse me, George Brinton McClellan will decide 484 00:26:32.730 --> 00:26:35.100 to bring his huge... 485 00:26:35.100 --> 00:26:36.240 He's had some problems. 486 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:38.160 So he doesn't get along with Lincoln. 487 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.740 He was going to attack the Confederate lines 488 00:26:40.740 --> 00:26:41.740 near Centerville. 489 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:46.670 However, Joe Johnson retreats on May 6th, 490 00:26:46.670 --> 00:26:49.190 McClellan knows on May 7th, 491 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.307 on the morning on May 8th, he tells Lincoln, 492 00:26:51.307 --> 00:26:53.070 "I'm going to the Peninsula" 493 00:26:53.070 --> 00:26:55.590 Of course, that afternoon, what do they learn? 494 00:26:55.590 --> 00:26:59.180 Shoot, the Virginia has come. 495 00:26:59.180 --> 00:27:02.480 There is stalemate in Hampton Roads. 496 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:07.480 Nevertheless, he comes down to Hampton Roads 497 00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:12.720 and he will begin landing his troops on 17 April 1862. 498 00:27:15.300 --> 00:27:18.430 Now his plan is to originally, 499 00:27:18.430 --> 00:27:23.430 to move up the Peninsula, using the James and York rivers 500 00:27:24.110 --> 00:27:25.743 to protect his flanks. 501 00:27:26.610 --> 00:27:31.200 Well, the commander of the North Atlantic 502 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.740 blockading squadron is a man known 503 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:38.740 as rear Admiral Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough. 504 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:43.060 He's five foot 10, about 340 pounds. 505 00:27:43.060 --> 00:27:45.140 He's known not to do anything in a rush, 506 00:27:45.140 --> 00:27:48.720 but the big thing is he suffers a dreaded disease 507 00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:53.720 in spring of 1862, - ram fever or Merrimack on the brain. 508 00:27:55.760 --> 00:28:00.150 So when McClellan moves up the Peninsula, 509 00:28:00.150 --> 00:28:04.260 he runs into defenses created by this man, 510 00:28:04.260 --> 00:28:07.800 Major General Bankhead Magruder. 511 00:28:07.800 --> 00:28:11.050 West Point graduate, class of 1830. 512 00:28:11.050 --> 00:28:14.333 Very flamboyant, in fact it says that 513 00:28:14.333 --> 00:28:18.720 Magruder would always appear in a great gallop 514 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:22.090 and with the perfect uniform and mustache. 515 00:28:22.090 --> 00:28:24.750 And he would start talking incessantly, 516 00:28:24.750 --> 00:28:26.550 despite having a slight lisp 517 00:28:28.210 --> 00:28:30.950 because it allowed him to speak longer. 518 00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:35.950 Well, anyway, he's built a tremendous defensive line. 519 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:40.490 McClellan's maps do not show how the Warwick River 520 00:28:40.490 --> 00:28:42.420 flows towards Yorktown. 521 00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:47.420 And so when they on April 5th, they meet at Lees Mill. 522 00:28:48.070 --> 00:28:51.310 The Union are repulsed in a minor battle. 523 00:28:51.310 --> 00:28:54.217 McClellan sends a note to Goldsborough says, 524 00:28:54.217 --> 00:28:56.290 "Hey, can you help me here? 525 00:28:56.290 --> 00:29:01.290 Can you run past the Gloucester Point batteries? 526 00:29:01.520 --> 00:29:03.820 Can you get into the James River?" 527 00:29:03.820 --> 00:29:07.770 And Goldsborough says, "Look, the James River 528 00:29:07.770 --> 00:29:10.560 is closed to our navigation 529 00:29:10.560 --> 00:29:15.450 because of that Confederate ironclad the Merrimack. 530 00:29:15.450 --> 00:29:19.010 And because I have to protect against it, 531 00:29:19.010 --> 00:29:23.527 I cannot send ships to run past Gloucester Point." 532 00:29:23.527 --> 00:29:26.720 Now at that point, it's a half mile wide. 533 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.850 Yes, there are Confederate batteries on it, 534 00:29:28.850 --> 00:29:33.390 but let's think forward to what Farragut did. 535 00:29:33.390 --> 00:29:35.280 And with steam power, 536 00:29:35.280 --> 00:29:37.580 you could have, with some losses, 537 00:29:37.580 --> 00:29:40.080 made it past Gloucester Point. 538 00:29:40.080 --> 00:29:45.080 Well, this is causing almost a 30-day siege, 539 00:29:45.433 --> 00:29:50.433 which is going, despite McClellan having hot air balloons 540 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:56.270 or gas balloons, the Intrepid and the Constellation, 541 00:29:56.270 --> 00:29:58.830 he's going to observe the Confederate lines. 542 00:29:58.830 --> 00:30:03.830 And he, you know, Magruder at first only has 13,500 men. 543 00:30:05.750 --> 00:30:08.870 But when they go up in the balloon, they look and say, 544 00:30:08.870 --> 00:30:12.270 he's got not 50,000 men. 545 00:30:12.270 --> 00:30:14.950 He's got not 100,000 men, 546 00:30:14.950 --> 00:30:19.740 but he has 200,000 men defending the Peninsula. 547 00:30:19.740 --> 00:30:22.150 McClellan says, I need reinforcements, 548 00:30:22.150 --> 00:30:25.793 I need naval support, which he does not get. 549 00:30:27.257 --> 00:30:31.680 Now what is going to happen is that 550 00:30:33.350 --> 00:30:34.183 basically the Virginia is still extremely active. 551 00:30:34.183 --> 00:30:35.016 It goes into dry dock 552 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:45.240 right after the Battle of Hampton Roads 553 00:30:45.650 --> 00:30:50.100 and will have more armor put on, plates replaced. 554 00:30:50.100 --> 00:30:52.290 They actually get those Brooke bolts. 555 00:30:52.290 --> 00:30:54.520 They actually build a new ram 556 00:30:54.520 --> 00:30:57.370 that was designed by John Mercer Brook, 557 00:30:57.370 --> 00:31:00.690 that was 12-feet long with a steel tip. 558 00:31:00.690 --> 00:31:05.060 It is the cock of the walk, as they said. 559 00:31:05.060 --> 00:31:09.300 And one Confederate officer said it was equal 560 00:31:09.300 --> 00:31:13.610 to a division of soldiers and what it did. 561 00:31:13.610 --> 00:31:15.300 It blocked that James River. 562 00:31:15.300 --> 00:31:16.893 However, I gotta tell you, 563 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.740 Abraham Lincoln is going to come down to Fort Monroe. 564 00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:27.653 He says, "where is McClellan?" McClellan finally has... 565 00:31:29.850 --> 00:31:33.460 The Confederates did retreat on the evening of April 4th. 566 00:31:33.460 --> 00:31:35.400 And then on April 5th, 567 00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:37.830 they fight the Battle of Williamsburg. 568 00:31:37.830 --> 00:31:40.530 So McClellan says, "I'm too busy to meet with you." 569 00:31:40.530 --> 00:31:43.010 Lincoln then goes amongst the fleet, 570 00:31:43.010 --> 00:31:45.740 he goes on the Monitor, and he also talks to this, 571 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:48.957 the commander of the Galena, John Rogers, who says, 572 00:31:48.957 --> 00:31:52.530 "Look, this is pretty simple. We can send a force 573 00:31:52.530 --> 00:31:57.530 into the James River and we can send a force 574 00:31:59.190 --> 00:32:01.000 after Sewells Point, 575 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:04.680 the Virginia can't fight against both." 576 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:06.470 And he's quite correct. 577 00:32:06.470 --> 00:32:09.200 Now the Virginia has already come out on a sortie 578 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:11.090 on April 11th. 579 00:32:11.090 --> 00:32:14.010 However, the Monitor, because they perceive 580 00:32:14.010 --> 00:32:19.003 it has numerous weaknesses, refuses to fight the Virginia. 581 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:25.000 So on May 8th, the Confederates will, 582 00:32:25.220 --> 00:32:29.140 or the federals, Lincoln, will organize a Naval attack 583 00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:30.640 against Sewells Point. 584 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:35.140 Rogers takes the Galena and other ships into the James River 585 00:32:35.140 --> 00:32:38.650 capturing or disabling the Confederate forts there. 586 00:32:38.650 --> 00:32:43.033 But when the Virginia comes out, the Monitor retreats. 587 00:32:44.540 --> 00:32:49.540 Well, I did not think, as John Taylor would say, 588 00:32:50.350 --> 00:32:52.760 that Jeffers was such a coward. 589 00:32:52.760 --> 00:32:55.530 Because the command of the Monitor has gone 590 00:32:55.530 --> 00:32:59.370 from John Worden to Samuel Dana Green, 591 00:32:59.370 --> 00:33:04.370 to Thomas O' Selfridge and then to William Jeffers. 592 00:33:05.503 --> 00:33:08.937 So what happens, Lincoln says, 593 00:33:08.937 --> 00:33:09.770 "Oh my gosh." 594 00:33:09.770 --> 00:33:11.070 He's disgusted by the failure 595 00:33:11.070 --> 00:33:13.373 of the Naval action against Sewells Point. 596 00:33:14.567 --> 00:33:17.050 So he'll actually go, land on the beach at Ocean View. 597 00:33:17.050 --> 00:33:20.100 He'll come back, tell the commander of Fort Monroe 598 00:33:20.100 --> 00:33:22.443 in the Virginia Department of Virginia, 599 00:33:22.443 --> 00:33:25.000 Major General John Ellis Wool, 600 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.390 "Why can't we land at Norfolk and capture Norfolk by land?" 601 00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:32.260 He said, "I told McClellan that a long time ago, 602 00:33:32.260 --> 00:33:35.520 and that that should have been the first thing we did." 603 00:33:35.520 --> 00:33:40.520 Well, what's going to happen is that Lincoln does land 604 00:33:40.700 --> 00:33:45.700 and he with Union troops on Ocean View on May 10th, 1862, 605 00:33:48.710 --> 00:33:51.570 Norfolk is surrendered. 606 00:33:51.570 --> 00:33:55.340 Portsmouth is burned and the Virginia, 607 00:33:55.340 --> 00:33:59.750 not having a port to go to, has no choice, 608 00:33:59.750 --> 00:34:03.580 but to run itself aground on Craney Island 609 00:34:03.580 --> 00:34:06.940 and commit the ship to the flames. 610 00:34:06.940 --> 00:34:09.823 As one of the crew members, William Curtis, says, 611 00:34:10.707 --> 00:34:14.880 "What a sad finish to such a bright beginning." 612 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:17.770 Now the Union Navy is in action, 613 00:34:17.770 --> 00:34:19.550 the Confederates are retreating. 614 00:34:19.550 --> 00:34:24.550 The federals, then bring a squadron up to Drewry's Bluff. 615 00:34:25.270 --> 00:34:27.940 Now the Confederates have hastily defended it. 616 00:34:27.940 --> 00:34:32.400 Actually, part of the crew of the Virginia 617 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:35.208 are manning some of the guns. 618 00:34:35.208 --> 00:34:39.240 Now basically, Catesby Jones is there, 619 00:34:39.240 --> 00:34:41.917 along with several other officers (indistinct). 620 00:34:43.421 --> 00:34:46.750 And so they're organizing this battery. 621 00:34:46.750 --> 00:34:50.600 Of course, that's what Drewry's Bluff look like. 622 00:34:50.600 --> 00:34:52.950 Here comes the federal ships. 623 00:34:52.950 --> 00:34:55.760 From left to right, it's the Galena, 624 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:00.760 a 3-inch plated ironclad, not a very good design. 625 00:35:02.090 --> 00:35:06.810 The Monitor, which cannot elevate its guns to strike 626 00:35:06.810 --> 00:35:10.300 at Drewry's Bluff. 627 00:35:10.300 --> 00:35:14.920 Then there is the Aroostook and then, 628 00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:19.550 there is the Port Royal, these are both wooden ships 629 00:35:19.550 --> 00:35:24.110 and that little vessel at last is the Naugatuck. 630 00:35:24.110 --> 00:35:28.690 It is an ironclad built on the concepts of Steven's battery, 631 00:35:28.690 --> 00:35:31.330 with 100-pounder gun. 632 00:35:31.330 --> 00:35:34.090 Early in the action, the gun burst. 633 00:35:34.090 --> 00:35:36.730 So it doesn't really do much. 634 00:35:36.730 --> 00:35:41.730 Hampered by sharp shooters on the shore and the Naval, 635 00:35:43.066 --> 00:35:47.170 the ability of the Confederate to fire plunging shots. 636 00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:50.190 You know, the Galena is hit 33 times, 637 00:35:50.190 --> 00:35:53.200 its hull 13 times. 638 00:35:53.200 --> 00:35:56.207 And so the Union break off battle. 639 00:35:56.207 --> 00:36:00.453 That's a final victory for the crew of the Virginia. 640 00:36:01.300 --> 00:36:06.090 As the Monitor steams back down the James River, 641 00:36:06.090 --> 00:36:09.887 John Taylor Wood will shout at the Monitor, 642 00:36:09.887 --> 00:36:14.340 "That is the wrong way to go to Richmond." 643 00:36:14.340 --> 00:36:18.730 Well, the Navy plays a very minor role now 644 00:36:18.730 --> 00:36:20.410 in the Peninsula Campaign, 645 00:36:20.410 --> 00:36:23.290 but they had opened the James River. 646 00:36:23.290 --> 00:36:28.093 The biggest thing is how do we evaluate this battle? 647 00:36:29.170 --> 00:36:31.816 It's kind of complex if you ask me. 648 00:36:31.816 --> 00:36:35.900 I know that on May 9th, 649 00:36:35.900 --> 00:36:40.900 the Monitor becomes the little ship that saves the nation. 650 00:36:41.290 --> 00:36:44.840 And it did so because it stopped the rampage 651 00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:46.763 of the CSS Virginia. 652 00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:52.940 But we have to look at this battle in many different ways. 653 00:36:53.100 --> 00:36:57.360 You know, if I was in the 19th century, early 654 00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:01.060 and I fought a naval battle, I won a victory 655 00:37:01.060 --> 00:37:04.410 if I sank more of the enemy's ships. 656 00:37:04.410 --> 00:37:09.410 And that's what the Virginia did on March 8th and 9th. 657 00:37:10.310 --> 00:37:14.780 Just to let you all know, it sank on March 8th, 658 00:37:14.780 --> 00:37:19.780 four ships, one transport captured, three ships damaged, 659 00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:22.193 right? 660 00:37:22.193 --> 00:37:26.410 And so that's the Zouave, the Minnesota, St. Lawrence. 661 00:37:26.410 --> 00:37:29.900 The next day, 662 00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:34.470 the Virginia will actually damage two ships, 663 00:37:34.470 --> 00:37:39.470 including the Monitor and sank another ship, the Dragon. 664 00:37:41.060 --> 00:37:43.533 So if we add all that up, 665 00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:49.550 the Virginia's total of what it did to the federal fleet 666 00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:51.540 outweighs the Monitor. 667 00:37:51.540 --> 00:37:55.560 The Monitor does not really damage the Virginia at all. 668 00:37:55.560 --> 00:37:59.990 Its damage was occurred from the close end battle 669 00:37:59.990 --> 00:38:03.800 with the USS Cumberland. 670 00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:08.800 So if I'm in the, like, if I'm sailing with Nelson, 671 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:12.910 I would've said, "Wow, we won that day. 672 00:38:12.910 --> 00:38:15.260 And also, we closed the James River. 673 00:38:15.260 --> 00:38:19.177 Also, we froze the Naval assets of the federals." 674 00:38:20.130 --> 00:38:23.690 That is, I think, a very, very powerful. 675 00:38:23.690 --> 00:38:28.690 And the Virginia influenced the 1862 Peninsula Campaign 676 00:38:32.170 --> 00:38:34.230 in a major way. 677 00:38:34.230 --> 00:38:37.050 Had not there been the Virginia, 678 00:38:37.050 --> 00:38:42.050 or if it had been destroyed on 9 March by the Monitor, 679 00:38:42.288 --> 00:38:47.288 then we would've seen, like McClellan being able to use 680 00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:51.329 both rivers, and they would've been at the door 681 00:38:51.329 --> 00:38:56.000 with their gunboats and their men at Richmond. 682 00:38:56.000 --> 00:39:00.680 You put the Monitor in the James River at Rocketts Landing, 683 00:39:00.680 --> 00:39:04.920 its shells could hit the Virginia capital, 684 00:39:04.920 --> 00:39:09.570 which was used by the Confederacy as its capital. 685 00:39:09.570 --> 00:39:12.230 So that is a close call, 686 00:39:12.230 --> 00:39:17.230 but it didn't happen because the Virginia was successful 687 00:39:17.510 --> 00:39:22.510 in holding back the federals by closing the James River 688 00:39:24.780 --> 00:39:27.750 and making the Union fearful of running 689 00:39:27.750 --> 00:39:29.803 past the Gloucester Point batteries. 690 00:39:30.980 --> 00:39:35.980 So if we think in a concept of 1862, 691 00:39:37.090 --> 00:39:41.820 the Virginia really gets the credit for winning the day. 692 00:39:41.820 --> 00:39:44.280 They won the day, its influence 693 00:39:44.280 --> 00:39:47.400 on the land operations, strategic. 694 00:39:47.400 --> 00:39:50.545 It wins the day because tactically, 695 00:39:50.545 --> 00:39:53.110 it damaged so many ships. 696 00:39:53.110 --> 00:39:57.500 However, the Monitor also damaged so many ships. 697 00:39:57.500 --> 00:40:01.010 The faith in the Monitor, as the little ship 698 00:40:01.010 --> 00:40:05.870 that saves the nation is going to be heralded 699 00:40:05.870 --> 00:40:07.163 throughout the North. 700 00:40:08.350 --> 00:40:13.350 The federals will then build over 60 Monitors. 701 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:17.530 Now they kind of forget that the Monitor almost sank 702 00:40:17.530 --> 00:40:19.440 on the way south. 703 00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:24.440 In fact, it will sink on 31 December 1862. 704 00:40:28.495 --> 00:40:31.560 What is wrong with the Monitor's design? 705 00:40:31.560 --> 00:40:34.150 Well, it's got limited firepower, 706 00:40:34.150 --> 00:40:39.150 that's why they'll eventually build twin turreted ironclads. 707 00:40:39.240 --> 00:40:43.500 It has poor fire control, it can only make seven knots, 708 00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:45.270 which when we think of things, 709 00:40:45.270 --> 00:40:48.410 that's faster than any Confederate ironclad, 710 00:40:48.410 --> 00:40:50.970 but it does not make it sea worthy. 711 00:40:50.970 --> 00:40:54.220 And of course, as we know off Cape Hatteras, 712 00:40:54.220 --> 00:40:58.150 the ship is going to sink for a couple of reasons. 713 00:40:58.150 --> 00:41:01.300 Number one, you can't caulk the turret 714 00:41:01.300 --> 00:41:04.610 and expect that to stay in a violent storm. 715 00:41:04.610 --> 00:41:07.230 Water comes down and sometimes 716 00:41:07.230 --> 00:41:08.910 through the top of the turret. 717 00:41:08.910 --> 00:41:11.760 It eeks it's way through the gun ports, 718 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:16.121 through the pilot house and the hull of the Monitor, 719 00:41:16.121 --> 00:41:20.950 the iron deck, the armor deck as an overhang. 720 00:41:20.950 --> 00:41:25.170 And so every time the Monitor went up and smashed down, 721 00:41:25.170 --> 00:41:27.210 it weakened the connections 722 00:41:27.210 --> 00:41:30.140 between the armor jack and the hull. 723 00:41:30.140 --> 00:41:32.087 As some of the crew members said, 724 00:41:32.087 --> 00:41:36.150 "We thought the ship was going to break apart 725 00:41:36.150 --> 00:41:37.757 before it sank." 726 00:41:38.890 --> 00:41:41.650 But despite these flaws, 727 00:41:41.650 --> 00:41:45.570 the federals are able to build actually 728 00:41:45.570 --> 00:41:47.843 a total of 83 ironclads. 729 00:41:49.070 --> 00:41:51.550 Over 60 of them are gonna be Monitors, 730 00:41:51.550 --> 00:41:53.920 all modified, improved, 731 00:41:53.920 --> 00:41:57.653 and actually the Confederates can only do 23. 732 00:41:58.530 --> 00:42:03.530 So the Monitor becomes the symbol of a change in the nation, 733 00:42:04.150 --> 00:42:06.500 the change to the nation because of the rise 734 00:42:06.500 --> 00:42:08.080 of industrialization. 735 00:42:08.080 --> 00:42:12.200 The rise of inventiveness and as well, as how 736 00:42:12.200 --> 00:42:15.370 the North can harness all those things, 737 00:42:15.370 --> 00:42:20.370 to build so many iron ships that overwhelm the Confederacy. 738 00:42:21.040 --> 00:42:24.780 Their casemated design, such as the Virginia. 739 00:42:24.780 --> 00:42:29.780 Well, it didn't work very well when the federals used 740 00:42:29.820 --> 00:42:33.530 15-inch Dahlgren shell guns, 741 00:42:33.530 --> 00:42:37.570 which in two battles can break the back 742 00:42:37.570 --> 00:42:40.947 of a Confederate ironclad as seen in the capture 743 00:42:40.947 --> 00:42:45.030 of the USS Atlanta and in the Battle of Mobile Bay 744 00:42:45.030 --> 00:42:46.853 with the capture of the Tennessee. 745 00:42:48.350 --> 00:42:51.400 So if I want to summarize, 746 00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:56.400 I will say that the Virginia in old terms won the day. 747 00:42:57.570 --> 00:43:02.570 The Monitor proved itself a match and in the long run, 748 00:43:03.350 --> 00:43:05.860 plays a tremendous role. 749 00:43:05.860 --> 00:43:10.800 Its design, its concept, its abilities to withstand shot, 750 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:14.780 proves itself a tremendous success, 751 00:43:14.780 --> 00:43:19.401 because of how it blockades the Southern coastline 752 00:43:19.401 --> 00:43:24.401 and proves it can defeat any Confederate ironclad 753 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.780 because it has better guns. 754 00:43:28.780 --> 00:43:31.380 Especially, that 15-inch Dahlgrens. 755 00:43:31.380 --> 00:43:34.310 So who won the battle of Hampton Roads? 756 00:43:34.310 --> 00:43:36.010 Just the battle. 757 00:43:36.010 --> 00:43:38.713 I would have to say that CSS Virginia. 758 00:43:40.180 --> 00:43:45.180 But the Monitor is a symbol of what won the war. 759 00:43:45.970 --> 00:43:50.220 It is indeed the little ship that saved the nation. 760 00:43:50.220 --> 00:43:51.053 Thank you. 761 00:43:56.340 --> 00:43:58.030 [Shannon] All right. Thank you John. 762 00:43:58.030 --> 00:44:00.093 Let me take the screen back from you. 763 00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:08.390 [John] Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this weekend 764 00:44:08.390 --> 00:44:13.040 is the Battle of Hampton Roads and... 765 00:44:13.040 --> 00:44:14.660 Go back, yes. 766 00:44:14.660 --> 00:44:16.840 And so we are celebrating it here 767 00:44:17.824 --> 00:44:19.400 at The Mariners' Museum with lectures. 768 00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:22.440 I'm giving a lecture Friday at noon. 769 00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:25.520 It's gonna be a virtual lecture about Franklin Buchanan. 770 00:44:25.520 --> 00:44:29.580 And then on Saturday, Will Hoffman is giving a lecture 771 00:44:29.580 --> 00:44:31.540 about the conservation of the Monitor. 772 00:44:31.540 --> 00:44:35.290 I'm giving a lecture about the more nitty gritty 773 00:44:35.290 --> 00:44:36.850 terms of the battle. 774 00:44:36.850 --> 00:44:39.450 I'm gonna do a book signing and we're gonna have 775 00:44:39.450 --> 00:44:43.740 artifact stations, games for children, and so much more. 776 00:44:43.740 --> 00:44:45.490 So anyway. [Shannon] Thank you, John. 777 00:44:45.490 --> 00:44:47.874 Yeah, and Tane put a link in the chat. 778 00:44:47.874 --> 00:44:49.260 So if you're interested, 779 00:44:49.260 --> 00:44:51.410 just go to the chat box and you'll see the link 780 00:44:51.410 --> 00:44:53.880 that Tane put in that will all the activities 781 00:44:53.880 --> 00:44:56.450 that are happening on the weekend. 782 00:44:56.450 --> 00:44:58.950 So if you have any questions for John, 783 00:44:58.950 --> 00:45:01.400 now is the time to put them in the question box. 784 00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:03.340 Go ahead and start thinking of your questions 785 00:45:03.340 --> 00:45:04.830 and entering them in. 786 00:45:04.830 --> 00:45:06.800 And we'll have him answer as many as we can 787 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:08.770 in the time that we have left. 788 00:45:08.770 --> 00:45:11.550 And also if you haven't downloaded John's bio yet, 789 00:45:11.550 --> 00:45:14.750 it's also in the chat box, so do that now. 790 00:45:14.750 --> 00:45:17.220 And in that bio, you will also find some links 791 00:45:17.220 --> 00:45:20.040 to The Mariners' Museum, the USS Monitor Center, 792 00:45:20.040 --> 00:45:23.040 John's books and his blog. 793 00:45:23.040 --> 00:45:25.781 So, all right, well, let's get started. 794 00:45:25.781 --> 00:45:26.850 Let's see. 795 00:45:26.850 --> 00:45:29.810 Mark do you have a question you wanna start out with? 796 00:45:29.810 --> 00:45:30.643 [Mark] Yes. 797 00:45:30.643 --> 00:45:33.810 You had touched upon this a little earlier in your talk, 798 00:45:33.810 --> 00:45:38.350 but can you kind of expand more on the ramming aspect 799 00:45:38.350 --> 00:45:39.830 of the CSS Virginia? 800 00:45:39.830 --> 00:45:41.670 This question asks, ramming, which we see 801 00:45:41.670 --> 00:45:43.430 in the old Naval battles of Greece 802 00:45:43.430 --> 00:45:46.070 and Rome was a naval tactic not really used 803 00:45:46.070 --> 00:45:49.059 since The Battle of Lepanto three centuries earlier 804 00:45:49.059 --> 00:45:52.393 and started to be used again since this battle. 805 00:45:53.746 --> 00:45:55.890 Why did this come back into fashion? 806 00:45:55.890 --> 00:45:58.500 [John] Okay. There's a couple of fun things about that. 807 00:45:58.500 --> 00:46:01.666 Number one, during The Battle of Lepanto, 808 00:46:01.666 --> 00:46:06.666 the Turks were trying to ram the Christian fleet, 809 00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:10.240 which a combination of several Christian nations 810 00:46:10.240 --> 00:46:15.240 and Don Juan of Austria 811 00:46:15.410 --> 00:46:17.240 was in command of the fleets. 812 00:46:17.240 --> 00:46:20.780 He knew that the musket and the cannon 813 00:46:20.780 --> 00:46:23.850 would blow those Turks out of the water, 814 00:46:23.850 --> 00:46:27.170 and therefore, they won the battle. 815 00:46:27.170 --> 00:46:31.830 So because we have cannon, you can't ram ships anymore, 816 00:46:31.830 --> 00:46:33.561 or you're gonna be shot up and they sink 817 00:46:33.561 --> 00:46:36.070 before you get there. 818 00:46:36.070 --> 00:46:38.443 So that means we can't do that. 819 00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:44.280 Now in the 1590's, we don't do ramming, 820 00:46:45.620 --> 00:46:48.110 but we do have the first ironclad, 821 00:46:48.110 --> 00:46:51.640 which is called the Turtle Boat that the Koreans used. 822 00:46:51.640 --> 00:46:56.380 They have 1-inch iron shields with spear points 823 00:46:56.380 --> 00:46:58.270 so that they can actually, 824 00:46:58.270 --> 00:46:59.450 they have a cannon, 825 00:46:59.450 --> 00:47:04.000 they do have a ram, but they stopped the Japanese invasion. 826 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:06.880 Sadly, that's when you know, 827 00:47:06.880 --> 00:47:10.130 Japan didn't wanna share any information with the West. 828 00:47:10.130 --> 00:47:12.960 Korea didn't want to either. 829 00:47:12.960 --> 00:47:15.210 So the forbidden kingdoms. 830 00:47:15.210 --> 00:47:20.210 So it's not until we build steam power, 831 00:47:20.560 --> 00:47:25.460 which can get me where I wanna go, when I want to go, 832 00:47:25.460 --> 00:47:26.947 and ironclads. 833 00:47:28.030 --> 00:47:32.810 If you are shot proof and you can go where you want to go, 834 00:47:32.810 --> 00:47:37.810 why not put a ram on the bow of your ship? 835 00:47:37.900 --> 00:47:40.760 And as a result of that, 836 00:47:40.760 --> 00:47:44.860 they will have a ram fleet in the Mississippi River, 837 00:47:44.860 --> 00:47:49.020 done by the federals, the Confederates do the same. 838 00:47:49.020 --> 00:47:53.600 However, all Confederate ironclads are fitted 839 00:47:53.600 --> 00:47:58.600 with an ironclad or an iron, cast iron ram. 840 00:47:59.180 --> 00:48:01.310 Now what does this mean in the long run? 841 00:48:01.310 --> 00:48:05.960 Well, if you look at Naval design after the Civil War, 842 00:48:05.960 --> 00:48:09.830 they're all gonna have these bows that are rams. 843 00:48:09.830 --> 00:48:14.830 And in fact, at the Battle of Lissa in 1866, 844 00:48:14.860 --> 00:48:18.970 the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and yes, they had a navy, 845 00:48:18.970 --> 00:48:23.970 sank the fed of the Italian ships by ramming. 846 00:48:24.890 --> 00:48:26.810 And this was like, 847 00:48:26.810 --> 00:48:28.810 oh my, they even had a wooden ship, 848 00:48:28.810 --> 00:48:30.800 a steam powered ship of the line, 849 00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:35.800 the Kaiser that actually also rammed a Italian ironclad. 850 00:48:36.580 --> 00:48:39.550 It helped sinks it, but it loses its entire bow. 851 00:48:39.550 --> 00:48:42.973 So you really wanna have ironclads ramming other ironclads. 852 00:48:44.190 --> 00:48:48.779 That design is gonna be kept in Naval design 853 00:48:48.779 --> 00:48:51.267 until we figure it out. 854 00:48:51.267 --> 00:48:56.267 Oh gosh, a steel rifled, 10-inch gun can fire 10 miles 855 00:49:00.390 --> 00:49:03.930 and you can't ram me 'cause I'm gonna shoot you there. 856 00:49:03.930 --> 00:49:08.930 So it's a brief interlude in the terms of naval warfare. 857 00:49:09.830 --> 00:49:12.770 They do ram a couple of ships during World War II 858 00:49:12.770 --> 00:49:15.340 and World War I, but it's not... 859 00:49:15.340 --> 00:49:17.130 They're not designed as rams. 860 00:49:17.130 --> 00:49:19.820 So yeah it... 861 00:49:19.820 --> 00:49:24.630 The Virginia opens up a whole new tactic 862 00:49:24.630 --> 00:49:28.650 that lasts effectively for maybe 20 years 863 00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:31.850 and actually ship design about 30 years. 864 00:49:31.850 --> 00:49:33.310 So anyway, yeah. 865 00:49:33.310 --> 00:49:38.310 It's all about iron over wood, you know, so... 866 00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:40.220 [Shannon] Right. 867 00:49:40.220 --> 00:49:42.350 Okay John, we have a question here. 868 00:49:42.350 --> 00:49:45.300 Do you know what the range of the Virginia's guns were 869 00:49:45.300 --> 00:49:47.453 and how did they compare to the Monitor's? 870 00:49:48.300 --> 00:49:53.300 [John] Well, the Virginia's 7-inch and 6.4-inch rifles 871 00:49:55.350 --> 00:50:00.350 had a greater range than the 11-inch Dahlgrens. 872 00:50:00.660 --> 00:50:05.660 11-inch Dahlgren as it's inventor John Dahlgren will say, 873 00:50:08.601 --> 00:50:10.670 it's like a shotgun. 874 00:50:10.670 --> 00:50:14.840 I can fire solid shot, but I can also fire shells. 875 00:50:14.840 --> 00:50:17.030 So that's pretty good. 876 00:50:17.030 --> 00:50:21.010 And however, that has a limited range, 877 00:50:21.010 --> 00:50:23.560 the rifled guns on the Virginia, 878 00:50:23.560 --> 00:50:25.920 which are the first prototypes, 879 00:50:25.920 --> 00:50:30.920 could probably damage a ship at two and a half miles. 880 00:50:32.850 --> 00:50:37.850 So in terms of who had the better guns, it's the Virginia. 881 00:50:40.290 --> 00:50:44.520 However, because all these ironclad actions in the future 882 00:50:44.520 --> 00:50:49.520 are gonna be close actions because they substituted 883 00:50:49.950 --> 00:50:52.350 one of those 11-inch guns 884 00:50:52.350 --> 00:50:57.350 with a 15-inch Dahlgren shell gun, 885 00:50:58.190 --> 00:51:02.660 which could hurl a shot weighing 440 pounds, right? 886 00:51:04.010 --> 00:51:07.270 And you get within a hundred yards of a Confederate ship 887 00:51:07.270 --> 00:51:11.620 or actually the Manhattan and Chickasaw, 888 00:51:11.620 --> 00:51:13.720 during The Battle of Mobile Bay, 889 00:51:13.720 --> 00:51:16.070 they got within 10 to 50 yards, 890 00:51:16.070 --> 00:51:18.470 and they're firing a 15-inch shot. 891 00:51:18.470 --> 00:51:19.530 What's that gonna do? 892 00:51:19.530 --> 00:51:21.470 It breaks the casemate you know, 893 00:51:21.470 --> 00:51:26.470 brittle iron versus the force of 440 pounds. 894 00:51:27.270 --> 00:51:32.270 So I'm being technical, I guess here, but you know, 895 00:51:32.845 --> 00:51:35.940 on the day of March 9th, 896 00:51:35.940 --> 00:51:40.680 I think the Confederacy had better armament 897 00:51:40.680 --> 00:51:42.193 because of those rifle guns. 898 00:51:43.580 --> 00:51:44.610 [Shannon] Okay. And- 899 00:51:45.630 --> 00:51:47.397 [John] Yeah, the federals learned that, 900 00:51:47.397 --> 00:51:49.520 "Oh my gosh, we need that 15-inch gun." 901 00:51:49.520 --> 00:51:51.010 So anyway. 902 00:51:51.010 --> 00:51:52.750 [Shannon] Okay. Mark, do you have another one? 903 00:51:52.750 --> 00:51:53.853 That's okay, John. 904 00:51:53.853 --> 00:51:56.308 [Mark] Yes. We have plenty of questions today. 905 00:51:56.308 --> 00:51:58.770 And I do just wanna say that a lot of these questions 906 00:51:58.770 --> 00:52:01.390 are asking about that status of the conservation 907 00:52:01.390 --> 00:52:03.660 of the ship, of the Monitor, 908 00:52:03.660 --> 00:52:05.640 which I guess the best way to answer that is to go 909 00:52:05.640 --> 00:52:07.900 and see it at The Mariners' Museum, what that status is. 910 00:52:07.900 --> 00:52:10.030 But this question is actually really interesting 911 00:52:10.030 --> 00:52:11.650 that I'm curious about, 912 00:52:11.650 --> 00:52:14.020 but can you discuss the loading procedures 913 00:52:14.020 --> 00:52:16.940 used to load the Dahlgren guns onto the Monitor? 914 00:52:16.940 --> 00:52:19.920 How did they get them on the ship? 915 00:52:19.920 --> 00:52:24.920 [John] They used cranes or lifts and they put 'em down 916 00:52:25.390 --> 00:52:28.390 and then you had these carriages. 917 00:52:28.390 --> 00:52:32.060 They also developed a little crane-type of device. 918 00:52:32.060 --> 00:52:34.590 You'd have carriages and stuff like that. 919 00:52:34.590 --> 00:52:39.200 Then you actually had a lift to move the shot 920 00:52:39.200 --> 00:52:41.400 in front of the muzzle. 921 00:52:41.400 --> 00:52:44.370 So it could be put down the muzzle 922 00:52:44.370 --> 00:52:45.327 because I don't... 923 00:52:45.327 --> 00:52:50.327 You know, one person on the Monitor got a hernia 924 00:52:51.700 --> 00:52:53.590 from lifting shots. 925 00:52:53.590 --> 00:52:55.840 So there...Moses Stearns. 926 00:52:55.840 --> 00:52:59.540 So they had to have some better ways of doing that. 927 00:52:59.540 --> 00:53:02.453 And so they had trundles, it's just like a hotshot. 928 00:53:03.484 --> 00:53:05.090 That has to be in a special, 929 00:53:05.090 --> 00:53:08.210 you know, cherry, red hotshot. 930 00:53:08.210 --> 00:53:12.000 You're taking it up to a gun deck where there's gun powder 931 00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:12.960 and everything. 932 00:53:12.960 --> 00:53:17.253 So they load the hotshot gun with gun powder, 933 00:53:17.253 --> 00:53:21.387 a dry sabot, a wet sabot and then that shot 934 00:53:21.387 --> 00:53:23.020 and then you fire it. 935 00:53:23.020 --> 00:53:26.530 And so you use a trundle to bring it up. 936 00:53:26.530 --> 00:53:29.470 So they developed these little cranes 937 00:53:29.470 --> 00:53:33.233 that actually were fitted with many land-based guns. 938 00:53:34.470 --> 00:53:35.480 [Shannon] Okay. 939 00:53:35.480 --> 00:53:37.740 Now this is a question that I get asked a lot. 940 00:53:37.740 --> 00:53:40.440 So I'm gonna let you answer it so that I know the answer, 941 00:53:40.440 --> 00:53:41.840 at least the correct answer. 942 00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:44.240 How did the toilet on the Monitor work (laughs). 943 00:53:45.250 --> 00:53:50.250 [John] Well (laughs) well, you know, back in the old days, 944 00:53:52.170 --> 00:53:55.440 you had different ways of distributing your waste. 945 00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:57.750 You had little areas where you'd go to the bathroom 946 00:53:57.750 --> 00:53:59.520 and it just went into the sea. 947 00:53:59.520 --> 00:54:02.420 You'd bring your chamber pot up, throw it into the sea. 948 00:54:02.420 --> 00:54:05.910 Yeah, no one cared back then about the environment. 949 00:54:05.910 --> 00:54:10.910 So, but if your entire living area on your ship 950 00:54:11.460 --> 00:54:13.553 is beneath the waves, 951 00:54:14.990 --> 00:54:18.250 that there's no way just to throw the waste 952 00:54:18.250 --> 00:54:20.490 over on the shore. 953 00:54:20.490 --> 00:54:24.943 So Erickson develops this pressurized commode 954 00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:31.860 that kind of, it works like commodes on submarines 955 00:54:31.860 --> 00:54:33.150 and so forth. 956 00:54:33.150 --> 00:54:34.620 So there's... 957 00:54:34.620 --> 00:54:38.120 So you go do your business and you have these levers, 958 00:54:38.120 --> 00:54:42.590 you know, these handles to churn. 959 00:54:42.590 --> 00:54:44.807 And so, you know, everyone thinks, 960 00:54:44.807 --> 00:54:46.720 "Oh, I'm supposed to do it clockwise." 961 00:54:46.720 --> 00:54:49.940 Well, no, you're supposed to do it counterclockwise. 962 00:54:49.940 --> 00:54:52.640 But they didn't have an instruction manual. 963 00:54:52.640 --> 00:54:57.200 So that's why David Long got blown off of it. 964 00:54:57.200 --> 00:55:00.070 So they had... 965 00:55:00.070 --> 00:55:02.030 Yeah, it's you know, 966 00:55:02.030 --> 00:55:02.870 it's kind of like a... 967 00:55:02.870 --> 00:55:05.530 Almost like a bilge pump to make it simple, 968 00:55:05.530 --> 00:55:09.840 but it's for one use and it used air 969 00:55:09.840 --> 00:55:12.663 and water pressure to make it happen. 970 00:55:13.800 --> 00:55:14.830 [Shannon] All right. 971 00:55:14.830 --> 00:55:17.570 Well, we might have time for one more short answer. 972 00:55:17.570 --> 00:55:19.240 Mark, do you have something that looks like 973 00:55:19.240 --> 00:55:22.650 that could be answered in a couple of minutes. 974 00:55:22.650 --> 00:55:27.083 [Mark] Yes. How did the gun crews cope with the noise? 975 00:55:28.390 --> 00:55:29.623 [John] Huh? 976 00:55:29.623 --> 00:55:30.456 (Shannon and Tane laugh) 977 00:55:30.456 --> 00:55:32.830 [Mark] How did the gun crews cope with the noise 978 00:55:32.830 --> 00:55:34.080 of the cannons? 979 00:55:35.180 --> 00:55:37.690 [John] Well, they didn't, you know. 980 00:55:37.690 --> 00:55:41.000 In fact, when you, in my Monitor Boy's book, 981 00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:44.900 I think I found 50 people wanting a pension, because why? 982 00:55:44.900 --> 00:55:46.470 They couldn't hear. 983 00:55:46.470 --> 00:55:49.920 And so they said it was all because I was in that turret. 984 00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:54.260 So what you were supposed to do when you fired the gun 985 00:55:55.200 --> 00:55:58.900 is you leaned away from the gun, 986 00:55:58.900 --> 00:56:03.130 put your hand over one ear and open your mouth. 987 00:56:06.990 --> 00:56:10.850 So I don't know about you all, but I don't think that works. 988 00:56:10.850 --> 00:56:13.799 You know, so yeah. 989 00:56:13.799 --> 00:56:16.740 It's... 990 00:56:16.740 --> 00:56:18.140 They didn't know any better. 991 00:56:19.105 --> 00:56:23.010 And really that is saving you from puncturing your eardrum, 992 00:56:23.010 --> 00:56:27.050 but there are other things that work in a ear, so yeah. 993 00:56:27.050 --> 00:56:27.890 That's what they did 994 00:56:27.890 --> 00:56:32.770 and no answer from me is short (Shannon laughs) 995 00:56:32.770 --> 00:56:33.930 remind you all. 996 00:56:33.930 --> 00:56:36.880 I know that's why I specifically said maybe 2 minutes. 997 00:56:37.830 --> 00:56:39.760 [Shannon] All right. Well, John, I think we are out of time 998 00:56:39.760 --> 00:56:40.593 for questions. 999 00:56:40.593 --> 00:56:42.020 You had a lot of questions. 1000 00:56:42.020 --> 00:56:43.860 If we did not get to your question, 1001 00:56:43.860 --> 00:56:46.340 John will receive a copy of all the questions, 1002 00:56:46.340 --> 00:56:49.880 and he will answer them as he has time. 1003 00:56:49.880 --> 00:56:51.050 And so... 1004 00:56:51.050 --> 00:56:53.020 But also if you think of other questions 1005 00:56:53.020 --> 00:56:54.010 or additional ones 1006 00:56:54.010 --> 00:56:57.480 that you forgot to ask, his email is here on the screen. 1007 00:56:57.480 --> 00:57:01.620 So feel free to email him at johnquarstein@ gmail.org, 1008 00:57:01.620 --> 00:57:04.963 or that should be .com or should it say .org. 1009 00:57:06.230 --> 00:57:08.210 [John] It's .com. 1010 00:57:08.210 --> 00:57:09.620 [Shannon] That's what I thought, okay. 1011 00:57:09.620 --> 00:57:12.552 So it's yes. Oh, sorry go ahead. 1012 00:57:12.552 --> 00:57:16.270 [John] I'm doing a lecture this Friday, 1013 00:57:16.270 --> 00:57:17.773 which will be virtual again. 1014 00:57:18.660 --> 00:57:20.980 It's about Franklin Buchanan, 1015 00:57:20.980 --> 00:57:25.420 but I will have time for questions then if you want to 1016 00:57:25.420 --> 00:57:29.980 turn in and learn about one of the greatest admirals. 1017 00:57:29.980 --> 00:57:31.900 Do so Friday at noon. 1018 00:57:31.900 --> 00:57:33.320 [Shannon] All right. 1019 00:57:33.320 --> 00:57:35.110 Okay, and you can, of course always 1020 00:57:35.110 --> 00:57:36.810 visit The Mariners' Museum online 1021 00:57:36.810 --> 00:57:39.880 to learn more about the USS Monitor, conservation efforts. 1022 00:57:39.880 --> 00:57:42.190 And I think Tane put a link in there as well 1023 00:57:42.190 --> 00:57:44.350 to the conservation area. 1024 00:57:44.350 --> 00:57:48.530 So the presentation will be archived. 1025 00:57:48.530 --> 00:57:50.930 The recording of this presentation will be available 1026 00:57:50.930 --> 00:57:53.210 on the sanctuaries webinar archive page, 1027 00:57:53.210 --> 00:57:55.030 which is found at that long URL 1028 00:57:55.030 --> 00:57:57.020 listed up at the top of the page. 1029 00:57:57.020 --> 00:57:59.230 And it's also gonna be 1030 00:57:59.230 --> 00:58:03.150 on the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary's website. 1031 00:58:03.150 --> 00:58:05.910 You just click on the multimedia section in the toolbar 1032 00:58:05.910 --> 00:58:07.560 to access the webinar box. 1033 00:58:07.560 --> 00:58:10.870 And there you'll find future webinars in that same section. 1034 00:58:10.870 --> 00:58:13.580 And don't worry, all of this information will be sent to you 1035 00:58:13.580 --> 00:58:16.360 in a follow up email once the recording is ready to view. 1036 00:58:16.360 --> 00:58:18.850 Once it's up online, we will send you an email. 1037 00:58:18.850 --> 00:58:21.160 It usually takes anywhere from a week to two weeks, 1038 00:58:21.160 --> 00:58:22.420 but we will send you an email 1039 00:58:22.420 --> 00:58:24.663 with the link to the recording. 1040 00:58:26.030 --> 00:58:28.830 And please join us for the upcoming webinars 1041 00:58:28.830 --> 00:58:30.354 that we're gonna have. April 12th, 1042 00:58:30.354 --> 00:58:32.740 Tane mentioned it briefly that we're going be doing 1043 00:58:32.740 --> 00:58:35.237 Valor in the Atlantic in May 1044 00:58:35.237 --> 00:58:38.150 and we're going learn more about it on April 12th 1045 00:58:38.150 --> 00:58:40.890 at 1:00 pm, Tane Casserley and Chris Taylor 1046 00:58:40.890 --> 00:58:43.130 and Avery Paxton and Chris Southerly are all going to give 1047 00:58:43.130 --> 00:58:46.190 an overview of that upcoming expedition 1048 00:58:46.190 --> 00:58:48.560 and tell you about how you can tune in live 1049 00:58:48.560 --> 00:58:50.700 as they explore the Monitor 1050 00:58:50.700 --> 00:58:53.550 and other shipwrecks off the coast there. 1051 00:58:53.550 --> 00:58:54.960 And of course, as always, 1052 00:58:54.960 --> 00:58:57.443 we invite you to follow us on social media. 1053 00:58:59.360 --> 00:59:01.130 And lastly, as you exit the webinar, 1054 00:59:01.130 --> 00:59:04.280 there is a short survey for formal and informal educators. 1055 00:59:04.280 --> 00:59:06.910 If you are an educator, we would really appreciate it 1056 00:59:06.910 --> 00:59:09.570 if you take just a minute or two to complete the survey. 1057 00:59:09.570 --> 00:59:12.040 Your answers will help NOAA develop future webinars 1058 00:59:12.040 --> 00:59:13.500 to meet your needs. 1059 00:59:13.500 --> 00:59:15.370 Your participation is voluntary 1060 00:59:15.370 --> 00:59:17.713 and your answers will be completely anonymous. 1061 00:59:19.200 --> 00:59:22.360 Once again, we want to thank John for a great presentation 1062 00:59:22.360 --> 00:59:24.400 and thank all of you for joining us today, 1063 00:59:24.400 --> 00:59:26.370 and taking time out of your day to be with us, 1064 00:59:26.370 --> 00:59:27.440 we really appreciate it. 1065 00:59:27.440 --> 00:59:28.620 You have a wonderful day 1066 00:59:28.620 --> 00:59:30.520 and this concludes the presentation. 1067 00:59:30.520 --> 00:59:32.210 Thank you. [John] Huzzah! 1068 00:59:32.210 --> 00:59:33.223 Bye everyone.