Clash of the Ironclads
DEAD HEAT The first-ever ironclad-ship battle – which took place in Virginia in 1862 – was an epic struggle, with a seemingly endless volley of gunfire
Shortly after noon on 9 March 1862, the crews of the Union blockading squadron in Hampton Roads, Virginia, saw a strange vessel making its way towards them. Unlike other ships of the day, it had no masts, no sails - just a large funnel - while its sloping iron walls led one Union sailor to say it looked “like the roof of a very big barn.”