The Naval Battle of Hampton was a naval battle that took place at the Hampton Anchorage on March 8-9, 1862 during the American Civil War. It was the first battle between an armored ship and an armored ship in history.
When the Northern Army developed an offensive to Richmond, it was preparing to send landing troops to land in the lower James River area. But this plan failed to materialize. In order to land, the Northern Army gathered 5 large warships, several gunboats and steamboats at the Hampton berth. On March 8, these warships were attacked by the armored ship "Merrimack" of the South Army; it had a speed of 5 knots and the 5 gunboats that escorted it. The firing of the Northern Artillery and Coastal Artillery Company did not cause damage to the Merrimack.
During the battle, the North Army lost one light escort ship and one escort ship, and several warships ran aground. At dusk, the armored ship "Monit" of the North Army sailed from New York to the Hamptons berth under the escort of two gunboats. This is a specially made armored ship, the hull is only 2 feet above the water surface, so it has great stability. On March 9th, the "Merrimack" and the "Monit" engaged in artillery battle. Although the artillery battle was almost direct at each other, neither side achieved any results.
The Hamptons naval battle opened up a new stage in the development of naval academics. This new stage is the use of armored ships and the search for new types of shells that can penetrate the armor of enemy ships.