FROM: U.S. NAVY
130219-N-ZZ999-505 WASHINGTON (Feb. 19, 2013) In this depiction of the Battle of Hampton Roads provided by Naval History and Heritage Command, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fire on each other. Monitor was a revolutionary vessel, designed by John Ericson, changing the course of the United States Navy. The Brooklyn-built Monitor made nautical history after being designed and assembled in 118 days, and then commissioned Feb. 25, 1862. Fighting in the first battle between two ironclads in the Battle of Hampton Roads on Mar. 9, 1862, the engagement marked the first time iron-armored ships clashed in naval warfare and signaled the end of the era of wooden ships. Its battle between the CSS Virginia proved that the age of wooden ships and sail were at an end. Though the Monitor's confrontation with the CSS Virginia ended in a draw, the Monitor prevented the Virginia from gaining control of Hampton Roads and thus preserved the Federal blockade of the Norfolk area. The Virginia, built on the carcass of the U.S. Navy frigate USS Merrimack, was the Confederate answer to the Union's ironclad ships. Months later, 16 Sailors were lost when the Monitor sank on Dec. 31, 1862 in a storm off Cape Hatteras, N.C. Her wreck was discovered in 1974 and is now a National Marine Sanctuary. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command/Released)
FROM: U.S. NAVY
130308-N-MG658-612 ARLINGTON, Va. (March 8, 2013) Members of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard escort the remains of two Sailors recovered from the ironclad USS Monitor during a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1862. The Sailors are being interred with full military honors. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Todd Frantom/Released)
130306-N-BX824-046 PACIFIC OCEAN (March 6, 2013) A phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) is fired during a pre-action aim calibration test aboard the forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82). Lassen is part of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, and is underway to conduct exercise Foal Eagle 2013 with the Republic of Korea in support of regional security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photos by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ricardo R. Guzman/Released)
FROM: U.S. NAVY
130307-O-ZZ999-004 DULLES, Va. (March 7, 2013) Members of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard conduct a dignified transfer of remains ceremony at Washington Dulles International Airport for one of two Sailors recovered from the ironclad USS Monitor. Monitor sank off Cape Hatteras, N.C., in 1862. The two Sailors will be interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority by by Rob Yingling/Released)
FROM: U.S. NAVY
By Bill Doughty
When the
USS Monitor was lost in a storm Dec. 31, 1862, exactly 150 years ago this week, the future of the nation hung in the balance.
In his insightful new book, "War on the Waters," James M. McPherson shows how Union naval leaders, technology and strategies combined to overcome setbacks and losses to the Confederacy – and eventually win the war.
"To say that the Union navy won the Civil War would state the case much too strongly. But it is accurate to say that the war could not have been won without the contributions of the navy," concludes McPherson.
The Pulitzer Prize winning author writes about the wisdom of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, the courage of Rear Adm. David Glasgow Farragut and the power of working jointly. General Ulysses S. Grant worked hand-in-hand with Rear Adm. David D. Porter, the son and namesake of the War of 1812 hero.
We also meet Cmdr. John Rodgers (another son and namesake of a War of 1812 Captain) and Cmdr. George H. Preble (grandson of one of the Navy’s greatest leaders, Capt. Edward Preble). The ties to the War of 1812 – in people, foreign alliances and brown-water naval tactics – are enlightening.
President Lincoln ordered the Army to provide its fleet of vessels to the Navy but promoted the idea of one-two punches by the Navy and Army from river ports to river forts. McPherson describes the fearless leadership of 19-year-old ship driver Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet.
Quoting letters, diary entries, first-person reports and dispatches, the author presents a broad history of naval warfare on both sides of the Civil War. He describes "asymmetrical war on the waters" in blockades and blockade running, riverbank guerrilla warfare, subterfuge at sea, and night attacks, and he follows the development of ironclad ships, submersible vessels and mines (torpedoes).
The Civil War saw the watershed shift from wooden ships of previous centuries that would lead to the development of battleships by the end of the century. Innovation would continue. Less than 50 years after end of the Civil War the era of naval aviation would begin.
Well-worn strategies of blockading commerce and targeting blockade runners would be expanded into the next century. A naval embargo against Imperial Japan in 1941 led to the beginning of the War in the Pacific.
Against the Confederacy in the 1860s, blockades were important in preventing the exporting of cotton and importing of salt. The role of salt in the southern economy and the targeting of salt production in the south by the Union Navy are fascinating side notes showing the importance of a healthy economy to a strong military.
McPherson describes the overall sociological effect of naval strategies on people in the north and south, too.
"Modern historical scholarship has shown how the Union army became a powerful force in the liberation of slaves, and how the 180,000 liberated black Union soldiers (most of them liberated slaves) in turn helped the Union army win the war. Less well known is the role of the Navy in freeing slaves and the vital contribution of black sailors to the navy’s campaigns. In 1861-1862 the Navy penetrated earlier and more deeply than the army into tidewater regions of the South Atlantic coast and into the valleys of the lower Mississippi River and its tributaries…"
"War on the Waters: The Union & Confederate Navies, 1861-1865" starts as a dry treatise but picks up steam. With nearly two dozen photos and illustrations and 19 easy-to-read maps, this book is filled with information, details and insights. It deserves a place on every military historian’s book shelf.
McPherson proves his conclusion: The Navy played a key role in winning the Civil War and saving the United States – a mere 150 years ago.
Photos courtesy of National Archives.
FROM: U.S. NAVY, USS MONITOR
010627-N-5329L-002 Atlantic Ocean (June 27, 2001) – U.S. Navy diver, Gunner's Mate 1st Class James C. Burger from Henne Pin, IL, pulls on a chain fall rigged to the civil war era "iron-clad" ship USS Monitor. Divers are working from the Derrick Barge "Wotan", which is acting as the main support vessel during the Monitor 2001 Expedition, the sixth joint U.S. Navy and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expedition to preserve the historic vessel. The ship went down off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, in 1862 during a severe storm. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Petty Officer Eric Lippmann. (RELEASED)
010703-N-5329L-005 Atlantic Ocean (July 3, 2001) – U.S. Navy diver, Senior Chief Engineman Bill Staples from Somersworth, N.H., uses a hammer and chisel to free deck plating from the historic wreck of USS Monitor. Staples and other U.S. Navy saturation divers are working around the clock with archaeologists from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to salvage the main engine and other artifacts from the wreck to be preserved and later displayed at The Mariners Museum in Newport News, VA. Divers are working from the Derrick Barge "Wotan", which is acting as the main support vessel during the Monitor 2001 Expedition, the sixth joint U.S. Navy and NOAA expedition to preserve the historic vessel. The ship went down off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, in 1862 during a severe storm. U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Petty Officer Eric Lippmann. (RELEASED)
