USS ''Merrimack'', variant spelling ''Merrimac'', was a

steam frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

, best known as the hull upon which the

ironclad warship An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...

CSS ''Virginia'' was constructed during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The CSS ''Virginia'' then took part in the

Battle of Hampton Roads The Battle of Hampton Roads, also referred to as the Battle of the ''Monitor'' and ''Merrimack'' or the Battle of Ironclads, was a naval battle during the American Civil War. The battle was fought over two days, March 8 and 9, 1862, in Hampton ...

(also known as "the Battle of the ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

'' and the ''Merrimack''") in the first engagement between ironclad warships. ''Merrimack'' was the first of six screw frigates (steam frigates powered by screw propellers) begun in 1854. Like others of her class (, , , and ), she was named after a river. The Merrimack originates in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and flows through the town of Merrimac, Massachusetts, often considered an older spelling which has sometimes caused confusion of the name.Nelson, J. The Reign of Iron. 2004. After the ship was burned on April 20 1861, it was rebuilt with iron siding in the American Civil War by the Confederacy and renamed the Virginia.

History

Creation

''Merrimack'' was launched by the

Boston Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

15 June 1855, sponsored by Mary E. Simmons, and commissioned 20 February 1856, Captain Garrett J. Pendergrast in command. She was the second ship of the Navy to be named for the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

Service

Shakedown cruises took the new screw frigate to the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and to Western Europe. ''Merrimack'' visited

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Brest,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

before returning to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and decommissioning 22 April 1857 for repairs. Recommissioning 1 September 1857, ''Merrimack'' got underway from

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

17 October as flagship for the

Pacific Squadron The Pacific Squadron of the United States Navy, established c. 1821 and disbanded in 1907, was a naval squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Developing from a small force protecting United States commerc ...

. She rounded

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

and cruised the Pacific coast of

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and Central America until heading for home 14 November 1859. Upon returning to

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, she decommissioned 16 February 1860. ''Merrimack'' was still

in ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household and public officials more generally, it indicates that a position is a permanent one (in contrast to positions that are extraordinary). In naval matt ...

during the crisis preceding Lincoln's inauguration. Soon after becoming

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Gideon Welles Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878) was an American government official who was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Althou ...

took action to prepare the frigate for sea, planning to move her to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The day before the firing on

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a historical Coastal defense and fortification#Sea forts, sea fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed on an artificial island at the entrance of Charleston Harbor in 1829, the fort was built in response to the W ...

, Welles directed that "great vigilance be exercised in guarding and protecting" Norfolk Navy Yard and her ships. On the afternoon of 17 April 1861, the day

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

seceded, Engineer in Chief B. F. Isherwood managed to get the frigate's engines lit off; but the previous night secessionists had sunk light boats in the channel between Craney Island and

Sewell's Point Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to t ...

, blocking ''Merrimack''. On 20 April, before evacuating the Navy Yard, the U.S. Navy burned ''Merrimack'' to the waterline and sank her to preclude capture. USS Merrimack - NH 58880

The Confederacy, in desperate need of ships, raised ''Merrimack'' and rebuilt her as an

ironclad An ironclad was a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by iron armour, steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or ince ...

ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, according to a design prepared by Lt. John Mercer Brooke, CSN. Commissioned as CSS ''Virginia'' 17 February 1862, the ironclad was the hope of the Confederacy to destroy the wooden ships in

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

, and to end the Union blockade which had already seriously impeded the Confederate war effort.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Nelson, James L. 2004. ''The Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack''. HarperCollins Publishers, NY. .

External links

history.navy.mil/photos: USS ''Merrimack''Journal of a Cruise onboard U.S. Steam Frigate ''Merrimack'', 1856–1858, MS 15
held by Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrimack 1855 Sailing frigates of the United States Navy Battle of Hampton Roads New Hampshire in the American Civil War Ships of the Union Navy Vessels captured from the United States Navy Shipwrecks of the American Civil War Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast Ships built in Boston 1855 ships Scuttled vessels Maritime incidents in April 1861