USS Monitor was the strangest warship many sailors had ever seen. While all the enlisted men were volunteers, as soon as some arrived on board, they immediately deserted to “parts unknown.” When the ironclad was repaired in the Washington Navy Yard, the sailors were granted liberty. Many did not return. Not only was Monitor unseaworthy, it was also very uncomfortable, prompting many to desert.

After a gun demonstration at a swanky event turned deadly, the US Navy had no interest in revisiting the production of large shell guns. But when John A.B. Dahlgren, known as the “Father of Naval Ordinance,” developed a new style of naval shell gun known as the Dahlgren gun, these weapons would eventually be mounted onto Monitor and taken into battle against CSS Virginia.

The Confederate ironclad that fought in Hampton Roads on March 8-9, 1862 had a mixed armament of shell guns, rifled guns, hot shot guns, howitzers, and a ram. This ship was designed to destroy Union wooden warships using these weapons, and successfully did so on March 8. Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory and Naval Scientist Lieutenant John Mercer Brooke were two of the masterminds behind the outfitting of the well-equipped ironclad. 

Catesby ap Roger Jones was one of the Civil War’s most distinguished and respected ordnance officers. He joined the US Navy in 1836 and served aboard USS Merrimack during its first cruise, joined the Confederate Navy when Virginia left the Union, and commanded CSS Virginia during that ironclad’s fight with USS Monitor. After serving as Virginia’s executive officer through the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, he was promoted to commander and would eventually be placed in command of the Selma Guns Works, producing much-needed Brooke rifles and shell guns for the Confederate Navy.

Just hours away from reinforcing Ft. Sumter and hours away from saving Gosport Navy Yard, USS Pawnee eventually became a valuable blockader. This steam screw gunboat was involved in several major operations with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and South Atlantic Blockading Squadron until the war’s end.

Able, courageous, and experienced, Franklin Buchanan was perhaps the most aggressive senior officer to join the Confederate Navy. His strategic flair, discipline, and heroic qualities made him respected and admired by all those around him. After being put in command of CSS Virginia, Buchanan led efforts that resulted in the Confederacy’s greatest naval victory before being appointed as the first Admiral in the Confederate Navy and selected to command the naval defenses in Mobile Bay, Alabama. As Admiral, he oversaw the construction of multiple ironclads and was on board CSS Tennesee during its battle against David Glasgow Farragut’s Union Fleet in 1864.

Major changes to 19th-century seaboard weaponry forced the transition from wooden ships to armored vessels. By the dawn of the 20th century, every major warship would be made of steel – steam-powered and armed with rifled guns – a new way of waging war at sea.