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CSS Virginia model
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The CSS Virginia was constructed from the hull
of the frigate USS Merrimack, which burned and
sank at Portsmouth, Virgina, upon the evacuation of Union
forces from that area in 1861. She was constructed of
wood with layers of sheet iron and had 10 guns, as well
as a crew of 320 officers and men. In March 1862, at the
Battle of Hampton Roads, the Virginia dispatched
the USS Cumberland by ramming and destroyed the
USS Congress by fire before engaging the USS Monitor.
In May 1862, the Virginia was burned by the Confederates
as they departed Norfolk. |
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Division of the History of Technology, Armed Forces
History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
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