Ironclads By: Cody Turner

What are ironclads? Ironclads are battleships that are covered with thick iron armor. They were first made and used in the civil war. The reason they used them is that wooden ships were much more vulnerable to bullets than iron.

The beginning of the ironclads The first ironclad was the Merrimack. The Merrimack was also called the Virginia. The Virginia was controlled by the confederacy. The union had the monitor.

The battle of Merrimack and monitor The battle of Merrimack and monitor was the first ever battle between fully steam- powered ironclads. This battle marked the beginning of modern naval engineering.

The pro’s and con’s of ironclads Ironclads were very heavy the thick iron made ironclads much slower than wooden ship. Also the iron wasn’t fully smooth so it had a lot of friction between the water and the hull. The only way to get it smooth was to mend copper to the hull which was very expensive and a slow process, because of this wooden ships were still popular. but iron was quicker to make and the wood used on wooden ships had to sit for months before being used on the ships.

The first steel clad The La Gloire was the first ironclad that made mostly of steel. Steel was lighter and stronger than iron. La Gloire was a French steel clad. The French had much more steel resources than any other people had so they made the first steel clad first.

This is what an Ironclad generally looked like

Works sited page "ironclad." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Grolier Online. 18 Mar Hagan, Kenneth J. "Monitor and Merrimack." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Grolier Online. 18 Mar Burgan, Michael. Battle of the ironclads. Compass Point Books, Book, World. "Monitor and Merrimack."World Book Encyclopedia