CSS Virginia

I thought that we needed a CSS Virginia photograph. This is the USS Merrimack cut down and given an iron casemate. The navy had burnt the Merrimack on abandoning Norfolk. The Confederates raised the ship and repaired the holes that had been drilled in the hull. The ship had sank, so that most of the lower hull was undamaged by fire. Captain Paulding had not done a very effective scuttling job. The engines were affected by being submerged in seawater, however. The Virginia was a very large ship. As a screw frigate, the Merrimack had displaced 4,363 tons. The Virginia had a mixed armament. She carried 2-7in MLR, 2-6in MLR, and 6-9in Dahlgren SBML. There wre also two 12pdr howitzers. The iron armour was built of two 2-in layers. The best that the Virginia could make was about six knots. (I drew this picture quite a while ago, but I was surprised to find that it was never published!)