Also known as: Merrimack guns.
| Ship | CSS Virginia, rebuilt from the USS Merrimack |
|---|---|
| Battery | Brooke rifles and 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbores |
| Protection | An armored casemate |
Guns of the ironclad
The CSS Virginia, rebuilt on the hull of the burned USS Merrimack, carried her guns behind a sloping iron casemate. Her battery mixed banded Brooke rifles, including pivot rifles fore and aft, with heavy 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbores along the broadside.
With this armament she destroyed wooden warships in Hampton Roads and then fought the USS Monitor in the first battle between ironclads, a duel that marked a turning point in naval ordnance and armor.
On this site
Sources & further reading
- CivilWarArtillery.com research archive: manuals, reports, and reference pages.