The U.S.S. Monitor
The U.S.S. Monitor was one of the Union’s first ironclads. It was one of four Union ironclads commissioned in late 1861. The Monitor was invented by Swedish inventor, John Ericsson. Ericsson was born in Sweden in 1803. He moved to London in 1826, where he invented the first screw propeller. A screw propeller is an underwater propeller designed to move ships.
At that time in 1826, all steamships had wooden paddlewheels on the backs or sides. This was a problem because they presented a very easy target for enemy ships to shoot. With a screw propeller, however, it could not be so easily destroyed, as it was protected underwater. After Ericsson realized that both the propeller and the engine driving the propeller would be underwater, he wondered about the significance of a partially, or fully, submerged warship.
Thus the Monitor was born. Ericsson invented the Monitor in 1854. It was a two hulled ship, made completely of metal, with a rotating turret in the center of the deck. The upper deck would be extremely well armored, the only things above water would be the pilot house, where the ship is driven, and the turret. Everything else was protected underwater.
Now all Ericsson needed was someone to sell his blueprints to. He tried sending them to France, but all he got was a polite rejection letter. His chance finally came in 1861 when U.S. Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles asked for plans to build an ironclad. The plans for the Monitor were accepted and it was built. It was sent off mere minutes before new orders were sent, by Gideon Welles, to go to Washington D.C., instead of Hampton roads.
C.S.S. Virginia
(U.S.S. Merrimack)
The tale of the C.S.S. Virginia begins on April 20th, 1861. Three days earlier, th...
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...n’s legal prize. The army troops stationed on the land behind the Congress, however, were not in the navy. They opened fire on the Confederates going to the Congress to get survivors. Buchanan, never a man that could control his temper, was outraged. He went on deck, grabbed a gun, and fired back. A Union bullet hit him in the thigh.
With Buchanan injured, the Virginia’s executive officer took command. Leaving the Congress to burn, the executive officer attacked the U.S.S. Minnesota. Dusk was approaching, however, and the tides were moving out. For the Virginia with her 22 foot draft, or how far into the water the lowest part of a ship goes, that would be a problem.
So the Virginia withdrew, confident she could return and finish her work of destroying the blockade. None of the crew aboard the Virginia could have had any idea what was waiting for them in the morning.
In the American Revolutionary War, a manned underwater craft named the American Turtle (or the "water-machine") was used against the British Navy. David Brushnell designed this ingenious machine in 1771. The submarine was a one manned, egg-shaped vessel which was propelled by hand-operated screw-like devices. It was bottom-heavy in order for it to remain upright. The operator would plant a submersible mine that could be triggered by a simple clockwork mechanism. He could paddle away after he attached the magazine of gunpowder onto the enemy ship. The operator could stay under for about thirty minutes
(Page 65) This is ironic because a few years later in 1861 the American Civil War began to determine the survival of
...he historian who reviews the event. The Confederates were able to continue blockade running up until the conclusion of the war, while the Union strengthened its navy in order to compensate for the imbalance of ship maneuverability. If the blockade proved completely effective, the supplies Confederate soldiers possessed throughout the war would have unobtainable via blockade running. It would also distort the history of the Civil War to name the blockade as the main reason for the South’s deterioration, when it only aided to existing problems leading to the conclusion to the war after the South’s surrender.
begins on the morning of Friday, April 14, 1865. A beautiful spring setting at the White House
Major Anderson thought that the people of Charleston were about t attempt to seize Fort Sumter. He would not stand for this, so since he was commander of all the defenses of the harbor, and without any orders to disagree with him, he said that he could occupy any one of his choice. Since he was being watched he only told his plan to three or four officers that he knew that he could trust. He first removed the women and children with a supply of provisions. They were sent to Fort Johnson on Dec. 26 in vessels. The firing of tree guns at Moultrie was to be the signal for them to be conveyed to Sumter. In the evening the garrison went to Sumter. The people of Charleston knew that the women and children were at Fort Johnson and thought that Anderson would take his troops there. (www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/battlefort-sumter.html)
The United States was at peace with Japan following peace negotiations that had been made. The President expresses his concern that the United States was still in conversation with Japanese government and its Emperor looking towards the continuation of peace in the pacific. Japanese had a series of secret plans to bomb America. The president says that the previous day’s attack on Hawaii Islands had caused severe destruction to American naval and military forces. In his speech, he expresses his regrets to inform the Congress that Americans had lost their lives. He continues to state that American ships had been submerged in elevated seas starting from San Francisco and Honolulu. Consequently, these harsh actions by Japanese government made Roosevelt, as commander in chief of the army and navy, dictate on the possible measures to fight back. He is very confident to state that even if it takes a long period for the United States to conquer the enemies’ actions, which he refers to as old-fashioned invention, the people of America will emerge the absolute victory. He believes that, through defending his nation against enemies, he will be acting upon the will of his people and of the Congress. He promises his people that such attacks w...
General Burnside’s “Campaign to Richmond” led the Army of the Potomac to the far side of the Rappahannock River, opposite of Fredericksburg, on the 19th of November 1862. Burnside envisioned pontoon boats stretching twice across the river to allow for a swift and continuous passage of his army. This is where Burnside’s problems began. The pontoon boats arrived several days later and Confederate scouts in the city were able to report the Army of the Potomac’s location. Within days, General Lee’s Rebel f...
Robert Fulton invented the first submersible submarine. This new invention put Fulton’s steamboat ideas on hold. The submarine was for the fast growing British Navy. The British Navy needed an underwater device that could swim under enemy ships and set off explosives. Fulton was American and this invention would make him a celebrity back in the states. Fulton was the head of a 5-10 man team who was inventing this new machine. Fultons main partner was a man named Robert Livingston. Livingston obtained a license for these new machine. This put lots of pressure on Fulton to make sure the sub works. After a couple of tests the mission was completed without any big mistakes. The new Submarine could submerge for 5 hours carrying two men. It was also
September 16-18, 1862, outside of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, was the location of the bloodiest battle in American history. Confederate Colonel Stephen D. Lee described it as “Artillery Hell” because of the frightful toll on his gunners and horses from Federal counter battery and infantry fire. (AotW, 2014) The battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg, would collect an estimated 23,100 total casualties (Luvaas and Nelson, 1987). The body count far exceeded any of the other three battles waged in the Maryland Campaign (Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, and Shepherdstown). This battle was a contributing factor in the outcome of our country and the rest of the world. The Union Army desperately needed a victory at Antietam; however, a victory for the Confederate rebels may have very well gained them international recognition as a sovereign country in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Federal Army, which belonged to the Union States, consisted of an all-volunteer army and was a larger army than the Confederate States. Even though the Battle of Antietam was inconclusive, President Lincoln went on to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the country, effectively ending slavery, and ensuring that no foreign nation would intervene on the Confederates behave.
Some of the inventions that were brought about during World War 1 include the Thomas Splint, Vehicle X-Ray Units, and the Brodie Helmet. Vehicle X-Ray Units were invented by Marie Curie in 1914, in France. These were used near the battlefield to check for any broken limbs on soldiers before they were sent to a hospital. These are still used today so any injuries can be spotted as soon as possible.(www.ethw.org) The Thomas Splint was originally invented in
The response of the North was the blockade on the southern states. This dealt a similar blow to the South that privateering would cause to the North: the loss of supplies. Since the south was a primarily agricultural area, they had few factories to produce war supplies. The goal of the blockade was to cut any supplies and allow the underdeveloped southern states to run out of war goods. Fortunately for the Confederacy, their large coastline was very difficult for the Union Navy to completely blockade.
Before 1919, four different men, from four different countries, created very similar ciphering machines all using a rotor or wired code wheel. Edward H. Hebern, United States; Arthur Scherbius, Germany; Hugo Alexander Koch, Netherlands; and Arvid Gerhard Damm, Sweden. Three of the four inventors were unable to complete their machines due to lack of funds. Only Scherbius, an electrical engineer from Germany, was able to complete his ciphering machine. He named the successful creation The Enigma.
Then on the fifth day of its journey, Titanic was progressing across the Atlantic. Captain Edward Smith had plotted a new course upon hearing earlier reports of ice from other liners, there were many more communications that day of ice in Titanic's path. On that very night of Sunday 14 April 1912. The sea was calm, the sky dark and clear, and the temperature was getting colder by the minute. With conditions like this an ice berg is very hard to spot. Then, at 11.40pm the lookout rang the alarm and telephoned the bridge saying "Iceberg, right ahead.” It was already too late to avoid the iceberg and Titanic began to start sinking within less than 40 seconds later, a series of holes appeared on the hull. It also took 3 ho...
Throughout much of the voyage, the two wireless radio operators on the Titanic had been receiving iceberg warnings, some were passed along to the bridge and the captain slightly altered the ship's course to head further south. However, he maintained the ship's speed of approximately 40 kilometres per hour. A lot of the warnings were never relayed to the Titanic's bridge. At 10:55 pm a nearby ship sent word that it had stopped after becoming surrounded by ice. Two lookouts were stationed in the crow's nest of the Titanic. At approximately 11:40 pm they sighted an iceberg, and the bridge was notified. The first officer ordered the ship “hard-to-starboard” and the engines to be reversed.