From the March 3, 2012, Virginia Daily Press "Battle of Hampton Roads: Construction of CSS Virginia" by Mark St. John Erickson.
The Union Navy was by far superior to that of the Confederate Navy at the outbreak of the war, 42 vessels to none, forcing Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory to opt for ironclads to even it out.
The Confederates raised the scuttled Union frigate Merrimack at Portsmouth's Gosport Navy yard and began transforming it into an ironclad. Some 1,500 men labored around the clock for nine months and they, the South had the weapon they hoped would break the Union's control of the sea.
Plans for the ship were drawn up by naval constructor John L. Porter with refinements made by John Mercer Brooke who determined the ship would have a single deck, ten big guns and be protected by an iron casemate. That would have two layers of two-inch armor plate backed by 22 inches of oak and pine that could stand up to any Union Navy guns.
Along with the powerful guns, there were two large smoothbore ones that could fire hot shot, especially dangerous to the wooden Union ships for starting fire.
Brooke also designed four rifled cannons, including two bow and stern-pivot ones whose range and firepower surpassed that of any Union ones.
One last thing included on this modern marvel was a weapon dating back to the earliest naval ships, a huge iron ram.
This Was One Formidable Ship. --Old B-R'er
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