You Are There - The Monitor and the Merrimac

“You Are There” is the best radio dramatization I have ever
heard. Each show begins with “live” background coverage of the
historical event, and then the “on the scene reporters” take
over. Everybody knows there were no radio announcers onboard the
Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria, (or from Ancient Greece, Medieval
France, or the Battle of Gettysburg either!) but you will be
transported back in time anyway as the show “broadcasts” from the
ships, the shore, and from Spain. The dialogue is very
believable, historically accurate, and very much in character. It
is apparent that the producers of this show did their homework!
Let’s listen to the announcer now…”CBS take you back to 1492. All
things are as they were then, except for one thing: when CBS is
there, You Are There! You Are There is based on authentic
historical fact and quotations, and now, on to our story.”





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The significance of the encounter between the USS Monitor and the
CSS Merrimack (renamed the Virginia following the Confederacy's
decision to secede) was the fact that it represented the first
clash of ironclad naval vessels in history.  Previously,
warships were constructed of wood.  With the advent of the
Industrial Revolution and the transformation in manufacturing
techniques, designs for metal ships emerged, with the Monitor and
Merrimack being among the first such ships built.  The
Merrimack had been successfully inflicting considerable damage on
northern shipping, prompting the dispatch of the Monitor to
confront it.  That encounter occurred on March 8-9, 1862 off
the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.  The arrival off
Hampton Roads of Monitor succeeded in relieving the wooden-hulled
northern ships, especially the USS Minnesota, and the battle that
ensued between the two ironclads ended in a draw, neither
succeeding in inflicting much damage on the other.  The
encounter would be the only such clash between the two opposing
vessels, but the uniqueness of the confrontation precipitated a
rush among navies in Europe to emphasize iron over wood in the
construction of their warships.