No one had to guess who had the strongest navy when the Civil War started. The Union boasted 42 ships, while the Confederacy had none. And both sides knew the struggle might be won or lost by the ...

On March 8, 1862, a large, slow-moving and unwieldy Confederate ship steamed toward the blockading Union vessels posted at Hampton Roads, outside of Virginia’s James River. The rebels made a beeline ...

In the first years of the Civil War, two ships later called ironclads, battled it out in the waters of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The USS Monitor and the CSS Merrimack (which was actually named the CSS ...