The Anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads

All Hands Online : Official Magazine of the U.S. Navy

"As the Confederate warship steered towards the Minnesota, its Sailors noticed something strange. A small oddly shaped vessel had joined their prey in the water. But that wouldn't stop them from destroying the flagship.
Lt. John Worden, the Monitor's commanding officer, had received orders to protect the Minnesota at all costs and set out the evening before. The Monitor spent that night maneuvering the waters of Hampton Roads to get near to the Minnesota. It was 8 a.m. when the Monitor Sailors spotted the Confederate warship. Virginia aimed straight for the grounded Minnesota, firing its cannons.
It was time for the Monitor to act. Its cannons blazed, taking the black-iron beast in the side, shaking it to the core. Suddenly, it was as if no other ships were there, just two iron ships, circling and hitting like heavyweight boxers, struggling to punish one another.
The Monitor turned, gunners filling the cannons with new shells.
Guns from the black-iron beast blazed as it shot. One, two, three missed..."Krang!" The sound exploded inside the Monitor, shrieking into the Sailors ears.
Sailors inside the turret stumbled as the reverberations struck them, two who were leaning against the turret when the shell struck it fell to the floor stunned. But the Monitor's armor stopped any critical damage.
The Virginia fell silent as its cannons reloaded.
The Sailors inside the Monitor scrambled to their feet, striving to turn the turret, slowly bringing the confederate warship into their sights. The thunderous sound of the Dahlgren cannon half-deafened the crew as it spat out its payload.
The report of the shell catching the iron beast was like music to Monitor Sailors' ears, a small rent opening in its side.
But the Confederate ship was far from finished, and for hours volley after volley of ordnance fired back and forth. A game of cat and mouse was being played between the two ships with the Minnesota being the prize. "