Ships Before the Civil War
Before the civil war, navel battles, or sea battles had not changed much. Battles were fought between wooden ships with sails. To win a battle, pretty much all you had to do was bring as many cannons as possible. About a decade before the civil war, major changes were happening to ships. New engines and guns were being developed. For example, a steam engine could make a ship run without wind and more easily transport things up-stream. By the late 1850’s steam ships were used in the navy. Artillery was also being improved. These weapons were way more accurate than the old guns and when combined with the long range of newer naval guns, this meant that naval battles could be fought at much larger distances.
Ironclads
Because of the new technology advances in artillery, the ironclad was born. Wooden ships before the ironclad were vulnerable to the new long distance cannons. To the solve this problem, the south came up with an idea. They would make a ironclad. Since the South didn’t have powerful engines to move the ironclad, it attacked Norfolk shipyard in Virginia. The shipyard had a big ship, the U.S.S. Merrimack. The North didn’t wan’t the south to get the ship, so they burnt it. When the South salvaged the ship, the hull and the engines were still intact. The South then put iron all over the ship. When the North heard about the South’s plans for the ironclad, they decided to make one too. The ships was designed by a Scottish inventor called John Ericsson. His ship was called the U.S.S.
Monitor. Union and Confederate ironclads first met in battle in March 1862 at the Battle of Hampton Roads – the world’s first fight between ironclad warships.
The Role Of Transportation In the Civil War 