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The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as either the Battle of the ''Monitor'' and ''Merrimack'' (or ''Virginia'') or the Battle of Ironclads, was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay adjacent to the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.〔Musicant 1995, pp. 134–178; Anderson 1962, pp. 71–77; Tucker 2006, p. 151.〕 The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships, i.e. the and the CSS ''Virginia''. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram ''Virginia'' (built from the remnants of the USS ''Merrimack'') and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, ''Virginia'' was able to destroy two ships of the Federal flotilla, and , and was about to attack a third, , which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darkness and falling tide, so ''Virginia'' retired to take care of her few wounded — which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan — and repair her minimal battle damage.〔Anderson 1962, pp. 71–75.〕 Determined to complete the destruction of the ''Minnesota'', Catesby ap Roger Jones, acting as captain in Buchanan's absence, returned the ship to the fray the next morning, March 9. During the night, however, the ironclad ''Monitor'' had arrived and had taken a position to defend ''Minnesota''. When ''Virginia'' approached, ''Monitor'' intercepted her. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage on the other. The duel ended indecisively, ''Virginia'' returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and ''Monitor'' to her station defending ''Minnesota.'' The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place.〔Anderson 1962, pp. 75–77.〕 The battle received worldwide attention, and it had immediate effects on navies around the world. The preeminent naval powers, Great Britain and France, halted further construction of wooden-hulled ships, and others followed suit. A new type of warship was produced, the monitor, based on the principle of the original. The use of a small number of very heavy guns, mounted so that they could fire in all directions was first demonstrated by ''Monitor'' but soon became standard in warships of all types. Shipbuilders also incorporated rams into the designs of warship hulls for the rest of the century.〔Tucker 2006, p. 175; Luraghi 1996, p. 148.〕 ==The blockade at Norfolk== On April 19, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities at Charleston Harbor, US President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of ports in the seceded states. On April 27, after Virginia and North Carolina had also passed ordinances of secession, the blockade was extended to include their ports also.〔''Civil War naval chronology'', pp. I-9, I-12.〕 Even before the extension, local troops seized the Norfolk area and threatened the Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth. The commandant there, Captain Charles S. McCauley, though loyal to the Union, was immobilized by advice he received from his subordinate officers, most of whom were in favor of secession. Although he had orders from (Union) Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to move his ships to Northern ports, he refused to act until April 20, when he gave orders to scuttle the ships in the yard and destroy its facilities. Nine ships were burned, among them the screw frigate . One (the old frigate ) was towed away successfully.〔''Cumberland'' and ''Merrimack'', the latter renamed CSS ''Virginia'', would meet again on March 8, 1862.〕 ''Merrimack'' burned only to the waterline, however, and her engines were more or less intact. The destruction of the navy yard was mostly ineffective; in particular, the large drydock there was relatively undamaged and soon could be restored.〔Musicant 1995, pp. 26–40.〕 Without firing a shot, the advocates of secession had gained for the South its largest navy yard, as well as the hull and engines of what would be in time its most famous warship. They had also seized more than a thousand heavy guns, plus gun carriages and large quantities of gunpowder.〔Luraghi 1996, pp. 34–35, 42.〕 With Norfolk and its navy yard in Portsmouth, the Confederacy controlled the southern side of Hampton Roads. To prevent Union warships from attacking the yard, the Confederates set up batteries at Sewell's Point and Craney Island, at the juncture of the Elizabeth River with the James. (See map.)〔ORA I, v. 2, pp. 782–783.〕 The Union retained possession of Fort Monroe, at Old Point Comfort on the Virginia Peninsula.〔Fort Monroe was one of three major forts in seceded states that were still held by the Union; the others were Fort Zachary Taylor and Fort Pickens, both in Florida.〕 They also held a small man-made island known as the Rip Raps, on the far side of the channel opposite Fort Monroe, and on this island they completed another fort, named Fort Wool.〔The fort was named Fort Calhoun when construction was started before the outbreak of the war. It was completed only after the war started, and was then renamed for the general who directed the defense of the region. Browning, ''From Cape Charles to Cape Fear,'' p. 41.〕 With Fort Monroe went control of the lower Peninsula as far as Newport News.〔Joseph B. Carr, "Operations of 1861 about Fort Monroe," ''Battles and leaders'', v. 2, pp.144–152.〕 Forts Monroe and Wool gave the Union forces control of the entrance to Hampton Roads. The blockade, initiated on April 30, 1861, cut off Norfolk and Richmond from the sea almost completely.〔Wise 1988, p. 25.〕 To further the blockade, the Union Navy stationed some of its most powerful warships in the roadstead. There, they were under the shelter of the shore-based guns of Fort Monroe and the batteries at Hampton and Newport News and out of the range of the guns at Sewell's Point and Craney Island. For most of the first year of the war, the Confederacy could do little to oppose or dislodge them.〔Davis 1975, pp. 69, 71.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Hampton Roads」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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