About this episode:

For those aboard the fifty-gun USS Congress, it had been a quiet morning. Its crew, as usual, prepared the twenty-year-old vessel for inspection which would be held the next day. Meanwhile, the ship’s quartermaster gazed out over Hampton Roads which glistened under a late winter sun. All seemed normal. And then, at 12:45 p.m., a column of heavy black smoke. Curiosity aroused, the quartermaster turned to a fellow officer, handed him his glass and asked for him to take a look. Their gaze created concern. Indeed, as the quartermaster put it, at last, “that thing is a-comin”. Something no one had ever seen before. Its mission - to change the course of the war. It was Saturday, March 8, 1862, and one vessel, an ironclad, was about to alter centuries of naval warfare. This is the story of technology turning a page. This is the story of the Duel between the Ironclads.

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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:

Stephen Mallory

John Mercer Brooke

John L. Porter

Gideon Welles

John Ericsson

John Worden

Additional Resources:

Monitor: The Story of the Legendary Civil War Ironclad and the Man Whose Invention Changed the Course of History by James Tertius De Kay

Duel Between The First Ironclads by William C. Davis

The Blockade: Runners and Raiders (The Civil War Series, Vol. 3) by Time-Life Books

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*Title Image by Ivan Berryman

Producer: Dan Irving