During the winter of 1861-62, Confederate engineers transformed an old wooden steam frigate, the USS Merrimac, into a steam-powered ironclad warship, the CSS Virginia, capable of withstanding the fire of any other warship afloat. Overnight the CSS Virginia had rendered the old wooden fleets obsolete. While similar developments were taking place concurrently in Europe, it was in Hampton Roads, Virginia, that the first clash between two ironclads would take place. The result was one of the strangest naval battles of all time - a well-matched clash between two technically different and revolutionary warships. This book details why the battle of Hampton Roads has been seen as one of the most important navel battles in history, ushering in a new age of naval warfare and warship design.