Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads, Battle of, one of the most important naval actions of the American War of Secession. On March Stb, 1862, the Confederate ironclad ram Merrimac approached the Federal wooden fleet that lay in Hampton Roads, and, continuing to draw near in spite of a heavy fire, rammed and sank the Cumberland, caused the Congress to strike, and created general alarm, as she appeared, on account of her armour, to be invulnerable. Next day, however, when she was preparing to renew her onslaught, she was checked and driven off by the opportune arrival of Ericsson's ironclad turret-ship the Monitor. It was the first battle between ironclads, and it revolutionised naval warfare.