It was March in 1862. The Civil War between the Union and the Confederacy was raging on. The Confederacy was desperate for a new strategy, so they turned to ironclads, ships armored with iron.

The Confederates used a captured Union ship called the Merrimack and turned it into an ironclad, renaming the ship the Virginia. The Virginia sunk two wooden ships owned by the Union in early March 1862, and was able to enter a waterway guarded by some of the Union's ships with little damage received.

Later, the Union ship Monitor was waiting for the Virginia at Hampton Roads. The Virginia was damaged and was forced to surrender. The Monitor saved the Union and continued the long battle of the Civil War.