Duel Between The First Ironclads Author:William C. Davis One was called "a tin can on a shingle," the other "a half submerged crocodile." And yet, on a March day in 1862, in Hampton Roads, Virginia, these two ships were to change the course not only of America's Civil War but of naval warfare forever. The ships were the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack). In this b... more »ook, the author thoroughly documents and analyzes their famous duel, based on letters, diaries, and memoirs of men who lived through the battle itself and of those who witnessed if from afar. The author also describes the design of each ship, and he portrays some of the men involved in the building and operation of the world's first "ironclads," including John Ericsson who designed the Monitor and John Brooke, designer of the Virginia.« less