First Battle Between Iron War Vessels

MM 4 obv. around scene of ironclads engaged in battle
rev. Wreath with battle information copper 31mm scarce Specimens of this medal were auctioned in oct.1864 proving that they were struck prior to the end of the Civil War

 

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Very nice, Paddy! Do you have any idea how many were produced?

Chris

 

No idea Chris the book said these were scarce Specimens struck in copper,Brass & silver rating them in this order scarce ,rare ,& very rare. Thanks Paddy

 

The Battle of Hampton roads, which this is referring to, was a draw. Neither ship could successfully sink the other. Each side claimed it as a victory to raise moral. The Monitor (Union) retreated back to shallower water and the Merrimac (CSS Virginia) saw this as a retreat away from battle and decided to go back to port and repair. In the eyes of the Union it seemed the Merrimac was retreating.

During the actual battle, the Merrimac already destroyed many Union ships before the Monitor came into site. The two ironclads met and exchanged fire and tried to ram each other. During the battle the turret of the Moniter was hit and spun uncontrollably, with the crew having to wait until it spun to the right direction to fire, but still only hit the Merrimac a few times. As of the Merrimac, it started to take in water in its boiler room and was low on ammunition due to the fight before with the wooden ships. The Merrimac was less moveable than it's enemy and had trouble chasing the Monitor around. If the Merrimac would have had solid shot instead of explosive shell for the wooden ships it could have possibly broke threw the Monitor's cladding. Same with the Monitor, if it would have been able to fire full loads of gunpowder, it might have damaged the Merrimac more. In conclusion the Merrimac was ran around and blown up by it's crew not very long after the battle and standoff at Hampton roads. The Monitor was sunk in a storm not long after the battle either. This was a dawn of a new era of naval warfare.


This is my two cents worth, I guess you can call it.:smile I really like this medal and would certainly like to own one. The American Civil War is a past time of mine.

~Tyler