In the spring of 1862, the world’s first battle of ironclad ships took place. The Confederate-built battleship Virginia tried to break the naval blockade by destroying several wooden Federation ships, but collided with an equal opponent – the battleship Monitor. Their battle lasted more than three hours, but the ships were unable to destroy each other. Nevertheless, this episode made a revolution in naval affairs, proving to the whole world the superiority of the steel fleet over the wooden one.
