Today 4/17/13 we drove to the Mariner Museum. They had many
different exhibits. One was about people who had been shipwrecked and how they
survived or died. On the disaster called the queen’s birthday, yachts and
fishing boats alike capsized. One of the rescue radio operators said, “The
radio was full of people calling over each other for help.” Another exhibit was
of U.S.S Monitor. The U.S.S Monitor had a famous battle with the C.S.S
Merrimack, which is more commonly known as the C.S.S Virginia. They talked
about the battle in between these two ships and the sinking of the Monitor and
the fate of the Merrimack. The special thing about the Merrimack and the
Monitor is that they were the only iron clad ships in a battle in between
wooden ships. The Merrimack attacked first. The Merrimack’s orders were to
destroy as many ships as possible. The Monitor was summoned after several ships
had been destroyed and burned. During the battle of the ironclads, both crews
had some trouble with the rotating turret of the Monitor. For the crew inside,
they had trouble hitting a target when they didn’t know where the stern was and
where the aft was. One of the crew of the Merrimack said “We do not catch sight
of her turning cannon until she is losing a cannon ball upon us.” In the end
the Monitor pulled away to resupply their cannon. Believing the Monitor had
sustained damage, the Merrimack sailed away. Leaving the Monitor thinking, the Merrimack
had run away.
We also found a funny sort of comic of the aqua battles of 1812. I will post them so!
By ME!!!!
ZJ e !
Ummm. What's the difference between a U.S.S. and a C.S.S.? And why was the disaster called the queen's birthday?
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never knew ships were involved in the Civil War. I always thought the battles were only by land...