Editing USS Monitor (section)

== Conception ==

While the concept of ships protected by armor existed before the advent of the ironclad ''Monitor'',<ref name=Bennett212>[[#Bennett|Bennett, 1900]], pp. 212–213.</ref> the need for iron plating on ship arose only after the explosive [[shell (projectile)|shell]]-firing [[Paixhans gun]] was introduced to naval warfare in the 1820s. The use of heavy iron plating on the sides of warships was not practical until steam propulsion matured enough to carry its great weight. Developments in gun technology had progressed by the 1840s so that no practical thickness of wood could withstand the power of a shell.<ref>[[#Baxter|Baxter, 1933]], pp. 3–9.</ref> In response, the United States began construction in 1854 of a steam-powered ironclad warship, ''[[Stevens Battery]]'',<ref name=Gardiner50>[[#Gardiner|Gardiner, 1992]], pp. 50–55.</ref> but work was delayed and the designer, [[Robert L. Stevens|Robert Stevens]], died in 1856, stalling further work. Since there was no pressing need for such a ship at the time, there was little demand to continue work on the unfinished vessel.<ref>[[#Konstam2|Konstam, 2002]], p. 12.</ref> It was France that introduced the first operational armored ships as well as the first shell guns and rifled cannons.<ref name=Bennett64>[[#Bennett|Bennett, 1900]], p. 64.</ref> Experience during the [[Crimean War]] of 1854–1855 showed that armored ships could withstand repeated hits without significant damage when French ironclad [[floating batteries]] defeated Russian coastal fortifications during the [[Battle of Kinburn (1855)|Battle of Kinburn]]. Ericsson claimed to have sent the French [[Emperor]] [[Napoléon III]] a proposal for a monitor-type design, with a gun turret, in September 1854, but no record of any such submission could be found in the archives of the French Ministry of the Navy (''[[Ministre de la Marine]]'') when they were searched by naval historian [[James Phinney Baxter III]].<ref>[[#Baxter|Baxter, 1933]], pp. 184–185.</ref> The French followed those ships with the first ocean-going ironclad, the [[armored frigate]] {{ship|French ironclad|Gloire||2}} in 1859, and the British responded with {{HMS|Warrior|1860|6}}.<ref name=Gardiner50/>

The [[Union Navy]]'s attitude towards ironclads changed quickly when it was learned that the Confederates were converting the captured {{USS|Merrimack|1855|6}} to an ironclad at the naval shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. Subsequently, the urgency of ''Monitor''{{'}}s completion and deployment to Hampton Roads was driven by fears of what the Confederate ironclad, now renamed ''Virginia'', would be capable of doing, not only to Union ships but to cities along the coast and riverfronts. Northern newspapers published daily accounts of the Confederates' progress in converting the ''Merrimack'' to an ironclad; this prompted the Union Navy to complete and deploy ''Monitor'' as soon as possible.<ref>[[#Clancy|Clancy, 2013]], p. 55.</ref>

Word of ''Merrimack''{{'}}s reconstruction and conversion was confirmed in the North in late February 1862 when [[Mary Louvestre]] of Norfolk, a freed slave who worked as a housekeeper for one of the Confederate engineers working on ''Merrimack'',<ref>[[#cia|CIA: Historical Document: Black Dispatches]].</ref> made her way through Confederate lines with news that the Confederates were building an ironclad warship. Concealed in her dress was a message from a Union sympathizer who worked in the Navy Yard warning that the former ''Merrimack'', renamed ''Virginia'' by the Confederates, was nearing completion.<ref>[[#Davis96|Davis, 1996]], pp. 214–215.</ref>{{efn|Accounts vary. Some sources claim she stole and was carrying the ship's plans, rather than a letter from a third party.<ref>[[#Sutherland|Sutherland, 2004]], p. 70.</ref><ref name=Allen115/><ref name=Tomblin161/>}} Upon her arrival in Washington Louvestre managed to meet with [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Gideon Welles]] and informed him that the Confederates were nearing the completion of their ironclad, which surprised Welles. Convinced by the papers Louvestre was carrying, he had production of ''Monitor'' sped up. Welles later recorded in his memoirs that "Mrs. Louvestre encountered no small risk in bringing this information&nbsp;...".<ref name=Allen115>[[#Allen|Allen, 2008]], pp. 115–116.</ref><ref name=Tomblin161>[[#Tomblin|Tomblin, 2009]], p. 161</ref>