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First Saturdays at the Museum: Civil War Ironclads
December 7 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
$10
The Lincoln Depot Museum
10 S. Water St. Peekskill, NY 10566
First Saturdays at the Museum: Civil War Ironclads
Not Just a Story About the Monitor & Merrimack
Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 2:00 pm (Museum doors open at 1:00 pm)
with Jon Fiorella
Built between 1859 and the early 1890s, due to the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive and incendiary shells, the class of ships nicknamed Ironclads were, at first, simply steam-powered warships protected by iron armor plates. Although the first seagoing ironclad warships were developed as part of a “naval arms race” between France and Great Britain starting in 1859, it was the Union and Confederate navies that pioneered both the design AND use of these powerful ships during the American Civil War, a conflict in which ironclads saw widespread and effective use.
When the American Civil War first broke out in 1861 the Confederacy chose the ironclad vessel to counteract the overwhelming superiority of the larger Union Navy, whose wooden vessels would be easy prey for the invulnerable ironclads. The first battle in history between two ironclads took place on March 9, 1862, in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Although the battle between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (formerly called the USS Merrimack) ended in a draw, it forever changed the nature of naval warfare throughout the world. The day of the wooden warship had come to an end.
The history of the Ironclads can’t omit the famous Monitor & Merrimack, but there’s much more to the story… join us Saturday and find out!
For more information, contact: LincolnDepotFDN@gmail.com
The Lincoln Depot Museum
10 S. Water St. Peekskill, NY 10566
