Iron Coffin
eBook - ePub

Iron Coffin

War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Iron Coffin

War, Technology, and Experience aboard the USS Monitor

About this book

The USS Monitor famously battled the CSS Virginia (the armored and refitted USS Merrimack) at Hampton Roads in March 1862. This updated edition of David A. Mindell's classic account of the ironclad warships and the human dimension of modern warfare commemorates the 150th anniversary of this historic encounter.

Mindell explores how mariners—fighting "blindly," below the waterline—lived in and coped with the metal monster they called the "iron coffin." He investigates how the ironclad technology, new to war in the nineteenth century, changed not only the tools but also the experience of combat and anticipated today's world of mechanized, pushbutton warfare.

The writings of William Frederick Keeler, the ship's paymaster, inform much of this book, as do the experiences of everyman sailor George Geer, who held Keeler in some contempt. Mindell uses their compelling stories, and those of other shipmates, to recreate the thrills and dangers of living and fighting aboard this superweapon.

Recently, pieces of the Monitor wreck have been raised from their watery grave, and with them, information about the ship continues to be discovered. A new epilogue describes the recovery of the Monitor turret and its display at the USS Monitor Museum in Newport News, Virginia.

This sensitive and enthralling history of the USS Monitor ensures that this fateful ship, and the men who served on it, will be remembered for generations to come.

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Yes, you can access Iron Coffin by David A. Mindell in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Military & Maritime History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. List of Illustrations
  7. Preface 2012
  8. Preface to the First Edition
  9. Introduction A Strange Sort of Warfare
  10. Chapter 1 Revising the Revolution, 1815–1861
  11. Chapter 2 Building a Ship, Speaking Success
  12. Chapter 3 William Keeler’s Epistolary Monitor
  13. Chapter 4 Life in the Artificial World
  14. Chapter 5 The Battle of Hampton Roads
  15. Chapter 6 Iron Ship in a Glass Case, April–September 1862
  16. Chapter 7 Utilitarians View the Monitor’s Fight, 1862–1865
  17. Chapter 8 Melville and the Mechanic’s War
  18. Conclusion Mechanical Faces of Battle
  19. Epilogue
  20. Notes
  21. Bibliographical Essay
  22. Index