To understand the impact of the Battle of Hampton Roads, it helps to think of a metaphor. Imagine a group of knights dressed in nothing tougher than leather watching two knights in full iron plate armor hammering away at each other, with neither seemingly the worse for wear. That feeling of awe was likely what the crew of the wooden warship Minnesota felt while watching its protector, the USS Monitor exchange gunfire with another ironclad, the USS Virginia.

On this day, March 9, in 1862, a several-hour gunfight between between the Monitor and the Virginia ended with a draw, with both sides claiming victory. The Monitor navigator was temporarily blinded, and the ship was forced to retreat for a short while. When it returned, the Virginia had also retreated back to port for repairs. Both commanders were convinced they forced the other’s disengagement.

No more ironclad battles took place during the war, and as it happens, neither ship made it past the end of the war, but the lessons drawn were clear. The Virginia sent three other Union warships to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay the previous day, but met its match in the Merrimack. Clearly, the future for naval warfare would be in iron ships.