"From the earliest days the question of the speed of ships has been one of interest to those associated with nautical matters, both from its commercial value, its value in times of emergency, and its forming the chief attraction of a pastime common to all maritime nations."
~ A. E. Seaton - 1891
USS Congress - 2017
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/galleries/battle-hampton-roads
Anchor of CSS Virginia - 2017
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/galleries/battle-hampton-roads
Thesis: At the dawn of the groundbreaking Industrial Revolution, many new technologies such as steamships and ironclads emerged around the world. These maritime vessels broke barriers by developing advanced naval technology which allowed vessels to engage each other better and transport goods around the world quicker which facilitated commerce. America's industrial revolution might paved the way for improved naval technology that culminated in the Battle of Hamptons Roads, the first battle between ironclads. This technology has had vast impacts on America in many ways including armored ships, nuclear power on aircraft carriers and submarines, and naval ordnance on various vessels.
"It is a wonderful fact in the swift expansion of mechanical knowledge and appliances of the last hundred years that while for unknown ages the wind was the only propelling force used for purposes of navigation, apart from the rude application of power through oars worked by men, the whole scheme of steam transport has grown, practically, to its present wonderful perfection within the lifetime of men yet living."
-Commander F. E. Chadwick, U. S. Navy
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