Monitor vs. Merrimac

[FONT=&quot]Here's a brief history of the Battle of Hampton Roads (Monitor and Merrimac):

Naval history was made on March 8, 1862, when the first Confederate ironclad steamed down the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads to attack the woodensided U.S. blockading fleet anchored there. Built on the hull of the U.S.S. Merrimac (which had been scuttled and burned when the Federals abandoned the Gosport Navy Yard in April, 1861), the new warship had been christened C.S.S. Virginia, but in common usage retained its original name. After ramming and sinking the twenty-four-gun woodenhulled steam-sailing sloop Cumberland, the Merrimac headed for the fifty-gun frigate Congress. An awe struck Union officer watched the one-sided fight as the Merrimac fired "shot and shell into her with terrific effect, while the shot from the Congress glanced from her iron-plated sloping sides, without doing any apparent injury." [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

The results of the first day's fighting at Hampton Roads proved the superiority of iron over wood, but on the next day iron was pitted against iron as the U.S.S. Monitor arrived on the scene. It was just in time to challenge the Merrimac, which was returning to finish off the U.S. blockading squadron. The Confederate ironclad carried more guns than the Union Monitor, but it was slow, clumsy, and prone to engine trouble. The Union prototype, as designed by John Ericsson, was the faster and more maneuverable ironclad, but it lacked the Rebel vessel's brutish size and power. The Merrimac's officers had heard rumors about a Union ironclad, yet, according to Lieutenant Wood: "She could not possibly have made her appearance at a more inopportune time for us...... Lieutenant S. Dana Greene, an officer aboard the Monitor, described the first exchange of gunfire: "The turrets and other parts of the ship were heavily struck, but the shots did not penetrate; the tower was intact, and it continued to revolve. A look of confidence passed over the men's faces, and we believed the Merrimac would not repeat the work she had accomplished the day before." Neither ironclad seriously damaged the other in their one day of fighting, March 9, 1862 though the Merrimac was indeed prevented from attacking any more of the Union's wooden ships. A new age of naval warfare had dawned.

For a more detailed description check out the link credited for the blurb:
Battle of the Ironclads (Hampton Roads) Official Records and Battle Description[/FONT]

The first couple of pictures are overviews of the U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimac




This is a view of the U.S.S. Monitor from the C.S.S. Merrimac


This is a view of the C.S.S. Merrimac from the U.S.S. Monitor


Forward-looking-aft view of the C.S.S. Merrimac (notice the battering ram at the tip of the bow just below the waterline)


Here's a close-up of one of the Merrimac's lifeboats (Warning despite the name this lifeboat may be potentially hazardous to your health)


This view is from inside the Merrimac's main deck which serves as both the Command and Gun deck.


In to the belly of the the beast(s) from teleporters in both ships you will enter the lower decks which serve as engine, boiler, and munition store rooms. Follow the color coordinated teleporters to the proper destinations (Merrimac=Rebel Red, Monitor=Yankee Blue).


This is the view from the entrance to the Merrimac's lower deck.


This view shows the actual entrance the rails in the center are propeller shafts.


This large structure in the center is both the main boiler and engine for the Merrimac. The smokestack is connected to the boiler which provides energy to the engine in the form of steam from burning coal which in turn causes propulsion.


This is another view of the main boiler and engine.


This is one of the cargo and munition store rooms.


This another cargo and munition store room.


This is the bow of the ship reinforced for ramming manuevers.


This is a closer view of the U.S.S. Monitor notice the structure towards the bow of the ship in front of the turret, this is a look out port that allows for protected navigation and artillery coordination.


These are the U.S.S. Monitor's cannons.


This is the forward view of the command deck in the turret (notice the spare ammunition for the cannons).


This is the ship's wheel located behind the cannons in the turret.


The U.S.S. Monitor's flag (just a little aesthetic detail).


This view is of the inside of the Monitor's lower deck, this view is from the entrance.


This is a closer view of the Monitors main boiler and engine. The larger vertical structures are connected to the main smokestacks, the smaller vertical structures are the blower pipes from the engine.


This is one of the cargo and munition store rooms.


This is another cargo and munition store room.


This is the reinforced bow.


[FONT=&quot]This map is intended for aesthetic purposes and historic detail. It will be somewhat playable but only for casual purposes not competitive. Feel free to comment, add suggestions, etc... Enjoy!

Credit to FrankthaTank ST for co-forging
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Firstly thanks for the comment now to answer your questions:
1. The U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimac both have lower decks but they're only accessible by teleporter and no they're not in the Paradiso cave system. They are made with rocks for the sides because the actual ironclads were made with wooden keels and iron-plated superstructures and I wanted to show that difference. Also the lower decks were grungy nasty places to be thus the stark difference and the flooded floors.

2. I don't what it would be like for 16 v. 16 I just said 1 to 16 players because I created enough initial spawns for 16 total players essentially 8 v. 8. If you want to try and make it playable for 16 v. 16 go for it just let me know the results but I designed it for aesthetics and I don't have enough budget for weapons.

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Hey frozenlynx thanks for the comment and feel free my friend that's why it's posted to Forge Hub it's all about the community man. Enjoy!

 

Yeah that's why I thought the question was a little strange but I answered it anways but on that topic the map has a max of 16 so lots of people can see it regardless of party size but in terms of playability it's set up for looks not play unless it's casual due to no weapons and overpowered defenses plus the initial spawns are on the smaller mountain on Paradiso so they aren't set up exactly for team vs team.

 

Thanks for the awesome comment ROCK I really appreciate it. A comment from a talented and creative forger such as yourself really means a great deal. The fact that you looked up pictures and compared the actual ships to the ships in the map is very cool. I like the fact that you did your research. Thanks again for the ROCKin comment.

 

Thanks for the comment I worked very hard to accurately portray both the U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimac from the scale comparison of both ships to the cannon placement. I even tried to mimic some of the battle scene paintings and lithographs with the orientation of the ships to one another. Again I truly appreciate the comment dude. Enjoy!

 

Thank you very much for the comment Grim. I put a great deal of effort into this map because I enjoy studying the Civil War era of American history especially the iron-clads. I used many different but accurate photos, lithographs, paintings, and engravings to depict these once mighty vessels. Eventually the iron-clads will become a theme of mine. I plan to make many more iron-clads including different Virginia-class Confederate vessels and Monitor-class Union vessels. A book I just purchased has many accurate blueprints of such vessels including one that was a converted paddle-wheel. Also I realize the Confederates didn't have Scorpion tanks for cannons but they did have access to powerful naval cannons thus the use of the Scorpions (as opposed to Wraiths which are mortar-based and therefore have more arc to their shot) where as the Monitor was built around the technology of the turret and the 2 large Dahlgren naval cannons.