Changes

The status of the United States Navy in January 1861 was woeful.  Years of bureaucratic ineptitude and red tape left the Navy in poor condition.  The fleet consisted of 90 warships; of these, 48 ships were out of commission, and the rest, or in reality the ones able to make steam or sail, were showing the flag in foreign seas.  Manning them were about 9,000 officers and men, which were trained in the art of defending a harbor or ship-to-ship fights at sea, but not for the war that was just weeks away.  As it were, Lincoln had just three commissioned warships at his disposal, not much for the blockade of Southern ports he had declared on April 15th.  And added to his woes were the names of 237 Naval officers who resigned their commissions and "headed south" as soon as secession in their respective states took place (TL 3, pg 10).

The status of the United States Navy in January 1861 was woeful.  Years of bureaucratic ineptitude and red tape left the Navy in poor condition.  The fleet consisted of 90 warships; of these, 48 ships were out of commission, and the rest, or in reality the ones able to make steam or sail, were showing the flag in foreign seas.  Manning them were about 9,000 officers and men, which were trained in the art of defending a harbor or ship-to-ship fights at sea, but not for the war that was just weeks away.  As it were, Lincoln had just three commissioned warships at his disposal, not much for the blockade of Southern ports he had declared on April 15th.  And added to his woes were the names of 237 Naval officers who resigned their commissions and "headed south" as soon as secession in their respective states took place (TL 3, pg 10).

Southerners were not surprised nor disenheartened by their own navy, meager as it were.  The few vessels the new Confederacy had were revenue cutters seized from Federal port authorities during the secession.  Further, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephan Mallory was a progressive in matters of naval design; he had once been chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Comittee, and had told the Southern cabinet that he professed interest in fast surface raiders to go after the Union Navy on the high seas, as well as proposing a very ugly craft that would change naval history:

Southerners were not surprised nor disenheartened by their own navy, meager as it were.  The few vessels the new Confederacy had were revenue cutters seized from Federal port authorities during the secession.  Further, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephan Mallory was a progressive in matters of naval design; he had once been chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs committee, and had told the Southern cabinet that he professed interest in fast surface raiders to go after the Union Navy on the high seas, as well as proposing a very ugly craft that would change naval history:

:''I regard the possession of an iron-armored ship as a matter of the first necessity.  Such a vessel at this time could traverse the entire coast of the United States, prevent all blockades, and encounter, with a fair prospect of success, their entire Navy.''  

:''I regard the possession of an iron-armored ship as a matter of the first necessity.  Such a vessel at this time could traverse the entire coast of the United States, prevent all blockades, and encounter, with a fair prospect of success, their entire Navy.''  

[[Image:Virg2.jpg|thumb|200px|left|LT B.L. Blackford, CSN, made this sketch of the ''Virginia'' on March 7, 1862.  As no photographs of the ship were ever made, this may be the most accurate image of the vessel in existence.]]

[[Image:Virg2.jpg|thumb|200px|left|LT B.L. Blackford, CSN, made this sketch of the ''Virginia'' on March 7, 1862.  As no photographs of the ship were ever made, this may be the most accurate image of the vessel in existence.]]