As the conversion of the former Merrimack proceeded during the latter part of 1861 and the early part of 1862, reports on the work reached newspapers and other news outlets in America and in Europe. Based on the sketchy information, and sometimes using a great deal of imagination and an understandably minimal appreciation of the realities of ironclad warship design, a variety of quite inaccurate depictions of the prospective CSS Virginia were prepared and published. The practice persisted even after good representations of the ship's actual appearance became readily available following her March 1862 public appearance.
This page features all our grossly inaccurate views of and on board the Confederate Navy ironclad ram Virginia, ex-USS Merrimack, and provides links to other views of the ship and her actions.
For more pictorial coverage of, or relating to, CSS Virginia,
see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
For more pictorial coverage of, or relating to, CSS Virginia,
see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 19 May 2001