The battle between the Union fleet and Tennessee raged for over an hour. The USS Monongahela rammed the Tennessee, but only succeeded in damaging herself. The Lackawanna rammed at full speed, but, as Farragut described it, "the only perceptible effect on the ram was to give it a heavy list."
However, a shot from one of the monitor USS Manhattan's 15-inch guns made a big impression of the Tennessee's crew. Lt. Wharton, CSN, reported" "The Monongahela was hardly clear of us when a hideous-looking monster came creeping up on our Port side, whose slowly revolving turret revealed the cavernous depths of a mammoth gun. 'Stand clear of the Port side!' I shouted.
"A moment after a thunderous report shook us all, while a blast of dense, sulpherous smoke covered out port-holes, and 440 pounds of iron, impelled by sixty pounds of powder, admitted daylight through our side, where, before it struck us, there had been over two feet of solid wood, covered with five inches of solid iron.
"This was the only 15-inch shot that hit us fair. It did not come through; the inside netting caught the splinters, and there were no casualties from it. I was glad to find myself alive after that shot."
Watch Out for Those 15-inchers! --Old B-Runner
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