On March 9, 1862, the Battle of Hampton Roads saw the first fight between two ironclad warships: the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia.
Why does that matter? Because this battle showed how American innovation and industry could change the course of history.
The Monitor was built in just about 100 days by the John Ericsson design team and backed by northern industry. Its rotating gun turret was something the world had never seen before. Instead of rows of cannons along the side of a ship, the Monitor could aim its guns in almost any direction.
When the two ships fought in Virginia’s Hampton Roads harbor, neither one sank the other, but the message was clear: wooden warships were finished. Naval warfare had just entered a new era.
It was another example of something America has always been good at — free people building new ideas faster than anyone thought possible.
Innovation, hard work, and freedom have always gone hand in hand in this country. Sometimes it only takes one new idea to change everything.
— Ryan