The first battle between armored ships called "ironclads" was fought in the waters of Hampton Roads in the Tidewater area of Virginia in the spring of 1862. At the beginning of the Civil War, President Lincoln ordered a blockade of all southern ports as part of General Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan. The idea was to cut off all trade between the Confederate states and other countries like England and France so the South wouldn't have the supplies they needed to fight a war. The Confederate government knew that if they were going to break this blockade, they would have to be innovative. Before the Civil War, all navy ships were made entirely of wood, and most still used sails to power them. Because they were made of wood, they could easily be sunk by cannon fire, so the Southerners decided to build a ship with armor that would deflect a cannon ball and not get hurt. In Portsmouth, Virginia, the Confederate Navy rebuilt an old ship called the U.S.S. Merrimack and lined the whole outside with 4-inch thick iron. They also put a big iron ram on the front of the ship that could be used to smash the sides of wooden boats. The ship was renamed the C.S.S. Virginia, and the Confederacy pinned their hopes on it to break the Union blockade. But the United States government was busy at work on their own armored ship, one that was totally different from the Virginia. Like the C.S.S. Virginia, the U.S.S. Monitor was covered in iron. The iron armor gave these types of ships their name: ironclad. But instead of having the cannons on the front, back, and both sides like a regular ship, the Monitor had one large, rotating turret with 2 of the biggest cannons of the day. The turret was a completely new idea in shipbuilding and allowed the Monitor to fire in almost any direction. On March 8, 1862, the Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads, intent on destroying all of the Union ships that were blocking the port. Without any trouble, the Virginia rammed and sank the U.S.S. Cumberland and disabled the Union ships Congress and Minnesota. In one day's battle, the Virginia proved that all wooden ships were now obsolete. The Virginia's crew decided to break for the night, but when they returned to finish off the Union fleet in the morning, they were surprised to see the small turret of the Monitor standing in their way. The two ironclads fought long and hard all day, but every cannon shot bounced off the thick armor. Neither ship was able to get the upper hand, so the battle ended in a draw. A draw is when neither side wins and neither side loses. It is like two teams having a tie in a soccer game. Although a draw, the battle between the C.S.S. Virginia and the U.S.S. Monitor was a sign of things to come, and soon all navies around the world would be building ironclad ships, as the old sailing ships of the past faded away.