CSS Virginia driving USS Congress from her anchorage

CSS Virginia driving USS Congress from her anchorage during the Battle of Hampton Roads on 8 March, 1862. American Civil War. CSS Virginia was an ironclad warship, made from the remains of the USS Merrimack, and was able to easily overpower wooden ships such as the USS Congress. Only when the Union Navy returned the next day with their own ironclad USS Monitor were they able to defend themselves. This was the first battle between ironclad warships and had a huge effect on global naval warfare. Illustration by J O Davidson. Taken from 'Battles and Leaders of the Civil War', vol. I, ed. Robert Underwood Johnson & Clarence Clough Buel, published by the Century Co in New York, 1888, p.702.