The interesting thing about the Confederate ironclad was that it was built upon the refloated hull of the Union frigate Merrimack (hence the confusion regarding her name), which had been scuttled when Norfolk fell into the hands of the South in April of 1861. The Union-built Monitor-derisively called a “cheesbox on a raft” (which proved to be a fairly accurate description)-also had the distinction of being the first ship to possess a rotating gun turret, changing the course of naval warship design for the next century. While the hours-long battle fought between these two behemoths off Hampton Roads, Virginia in March of 1862 was relatively unspectacular and ended in a draw, it may have been one of the most important battles in naval history in that it was the first time two ships made predominantly of iron rather than wood ever engaged in battle. The remarkably well preserved hulk now sits in a specially designed tank awaiting conservation. Tragically, the little boat didn’t make it back to dock but sank for the third and last time that evening for unknown reasons, taking her entire eight-man crew down once again.Īfter sitting on the bottom of Charleston Harbor for the next 136 years, she was finally located and raised in August of 2000 to great fanfare. Remarkably, the torpedo detonated as planned and the Housatonic sank, giving her the dubious distinction of being the first ship in history to be sunk by a submarine. Finally ready for her first combat test, on the evening of February 17, 1864, the Hunley, which never seemed to run out of men eager to serve on her despite the generally suicidal nature of doing so, snuck up on the Union sloop Housatonic and buried a spar torpedo in her side. Built by the Confederates in 1863 specifically to sink Union ships then barricading Southern ports, she sank twice while being tested, killing 13 of her crew (including her designer, H.L. This early excuse for a submarine proved to be far more dangerous to her own crews than she was to the Union Navy, but she was to start a revolution in naval engineering that remains with us to this day. Unfortunately, none of them are exact duplicates as no records of the ship’s original construction exist, resulting in a number of different configurations. While the original is long gone, no fewer than four replicas of the ship have been built since, all of them capable of putting to sea. Unfortunately, the sturdy little Santa Maria would not be making a repeat journey, as she ran aground on Christmas day, 1492, and was salvaged for her wood (which, interesting enough, went into the construction of another ship originally called La Navidad-Christmas-because the wreck occurred on Christmas Day While Columbus has acquired a bad rap of late for his brutality as governor of Hispaniola and other little foibles he was famous for, no one can deny his extraordinary seamanship or his courage in making the crossing not just once, but four times during his lifetime. Though less than 70 feet long and by all accounts a slow and hideous vessel, few can deny the fame the tiny Spanish boat achieved when she brought Christopher Columbus to the new world. The Santa Maria The Santa Maria at sea with the figure of Christopher Columbus at the bow So here is my list of the top ten most famous ships-both military and civilian-in history. All of them, however, survive the centuries and are noted here. Some of these were famous for their accomplishments while others served as a symbol around which entire nations would rally. Of course, there have been literally millions of ships built over the millennia, but only a handful have left a lasting impact over the centuries. As such, ships continue to fascinate us, both for their power and mystique, and they probably always will. They have also been an important part of war as well, with improvements in warship design driving almost every innovation in maritime history, from steam power to construction techniques. In fact, until the age of steam, they were mankind’s only practical means of moving goods around the world, making them an indispensable part of the civilization process. From hollowed out logs to Roman Triremes, and from ships driven by the wind to the nuclear powered super carriers of today, man has had an impenetrable bond with ships. Ever since the first caveman figured out that wood floats, the sea has been a part of human history.