"The present work is an attempt to give, with fair detail, a sketch of naval warfare in the period of transition which has followed the introduction of steam."--p. [xvii].

Contrary to widespread belief, Roberts concludes, the ironclad program set Navy shipbuilding back a generation.--Kathy Crewdson and Ian Dew "The Northern Mariner"

Battle of the Ironclads brings to life the dramatic events which occurred in Hampton Roads on March 8 and 9, 1862. This first battle between armored vessels, often called the Monitor-Merrimack engagement, is perhaps the most significant naval event of the entire Civil War. This thrilling history is the first volume to offer a comprehensive pictorial interpretation of the men and ships that forever changed naval warfare. Over 150 images, including photographs, engravings, paintings, and sketches, have been gathered from museums, archives, and private collections to chronicle the exciting story of the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (Merrimack). While Battle of the Ironclads is a visual history of the first battle between armored ships, it is also a saga of uncommon valor and leadership epitomized by Franklin Buchanan, George U. Morris, Samuel Dana Greene, and John Taylor Wood. The brilliant innovations of John Mercer Brooke and the farsighted inventions of John Ericsson made this showdown in Hampton Roads a death for wooden sailing ships. Battle of the Ironclads is indeed an epic tale that tells how steam-powered iron vessels not only influenced the Civil War, but more importantly, how the two ironclads echoed the dawn of modern navies.

From Spain to Russia, and from Ottoman Turkey to Bismarck's Prussia, this book explores 15 years that transformed European naval warfare. When the Gloire slid down the Toulon slipway in 1859, it changed sea power forever. With this ship, the world's first oceangoing ironclad, France had a warship that could sink any other, and which was proof against the guns of any wooden ship afloat. Instantly, an arms race began between the great navies of Europe – first to build their own ironclads, and then to surpass each other's technology and designs. As both armour and gun technology rapidly improved, naval architects found new ways to mount and protect guns. The ram briefly came back into fashion, and Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets fought the ironclad era's great battle at Lissa. By the end of this revolutionary period, the modern battleship was becoming recognizable, and new naval powers were emerging to dominate Europe's waters.

In author-illustrator Nathan Hale’s Big Bad Ironclad, uncover the story of the American Civil War’s ironclad warships with this Hazardous Tale in the New York Times bestselling graphic novel series! “These books are, quite simply, brilliant. . . . Thrilling, bloody, action-packed stories from American history.” —New York Times Ships are great for transport, but when they are made of wood they tend to start leaking when cannons fire upon them. But what if the ship is covered with iron? Assuming it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean, wouldn’t it be stronger and better than any other ship out there? This is the question that begins a race between the North and the South to come up with the biggest, best ironclad warships. Here is the story of the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (also called the Merrimack), two of the world’s first ironclad ships, and their fascinating role in the Civil War. Through their ironclad battle, you will get a wider perspective to the war. Meet Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet. Learn about General Winfield Scott’s Anaconda Plan to cut off the South from any outside support. And meet Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s “Father Neptune” and secretary of the Navy. Sail back in time and learn of a battle that changed warfare, and a war that changed history. Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales! Read them all—if you dare! One Dead Spy: A Revolutionary War Tale (#1) Big Bad Ironclad!: A Civil War Tale (#2) Donner Dinner Party: A Pioneer Tale (#3) Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood: A World War I Tale (#4) The Underground Abductor: An Abolitionist Tale about Harriet Tubman (#5) Alamo All-Stars: A Texas Tale (#6) Raid of No Return: A World War II Tale of the Doolittle Raid (#7) Lafayette!: A Revolutionary War Tale (#8) Major Impossible: A Grand Canyon Tale (#9) Blades of Freedom: A Tale of Haiti, Napoleon, and the Louisiana Purchase (#10) Cold War Correspondent: A Korean War Tale (#11) Above the Trenches: A WWI Flying Ace Tale (#12)

One was called "a tin can on a shingle"; the other, "a half-submerged crocodile." Yet, on a March day in 1862 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, after a five-hour duel, the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack) were to change the course of not only the Civil War but also naval warfare forever. Using letters, diaries, and memoirs of men who lived through the epic battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack and of those who witnessed it from afar, William C. Davis documents and analyzes this famous confrontation of the first two modern warships. The result is a full-scale history that is as exciting as a novel. Besides a thorough discussion of the designs of each ship, Davis portrays come of the men involved in the building and operation of America's first ironclads-John Ericsson, supreme egoist and engineering genius who designed the Monitor; John Brooke, designer of the Virginia; John Worden, the well-loved captain of the Monitor; Captain Franklin Buchanan of the Virginia; and a host of other men on both Union and Confederate sides whose contributions make this history as much a story of men as of ships and war.