When the first Confederacy ironclad steamed down the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads to attack the US blockade, and after ramming and sinking the 20 ft. gun wooden hulled steam-sailing sloop Cumberland, the Merrimac headed for the 50 gun frigate congress. Naval History was made.

The Ironclad is an excellent battle ship. It has pure iron sides, which almost nothing can penetrate. It can carry more guns than the Union Monitor can. But it was slow, clumsy, and prone to engine trouble. Some of the faster Ironclads are quicker but lack the size and power of most Ironclads. Although Ironclads cannot be penetrated as easily as most battle ships it can be damaged although the ship can be fully intact and runable at the end of battle. Because of this the confederacy, by the end of the war, had begun building about 59 Ironclads but only came around to building about 24.

There are differences between the confederate Ironclads and the Union Ironclads. For instance the confederate Ironclads use the monitor design. Many of them were fitted as rams; these were useful on the western rivers, which had little room to maneuver. The union ironclads usually had sloping case mates, because a shot hitting the ship at an angle would spread its force over a larger area and then bounce off in an upward direction.

This is an illustration of an ironclad battle.