"You bore the first iron battle's burden sealed as in a diving bell"
- Herman Melville, "In the Turret"
USS Monitor
Early military losses at Bull Run and the discovery of the Virginia's construction prompted the Union navy to invest in ironclads as a part of their naval strategy. Multiple people were asked to send in designs for an ironclad warship at the outset of the war. John Ericsson's design, the Monitor, was one of the three that were chosen to be built.
Why the Monitor?
The two other ships that were chosen by the Union were the USS Galena and the USS New Ironsides. Of the three the Monitor was by far the most unconventional. However, because it was the first ship that was completed, it was the only hope against the Confederate "monster" the Virginia.
The Ericsson battery, known to the naval register as the “Monitor,” is now receiving her stores at the navy yard... Shot, shell, and ammunition have been put on board, and all the preparations are so far complete that the “Monitor” is expected to start on her hostile mission today.
- Wisconsin Daily Patriot, 03/04/1862