It should be remembered that the _Merrimac_ had to contend not only against the _Monitor_, but also against the gunboats of the northern fleet, which fired upon her whenever they had a chance. The subsequent fate of these two typical ironclads is interesting. The _Monitor_ was sent to sea in weather she could never hope to contend against, and went to the bottom. When the fortunes of war drove the Confederates away from the positions they had occupied at Hampton Roads, the _Merrimac_ was scuttled by her commander to prevent her falling into the hands of the Federals. Both sides went on building ironclads of the types they had introduced. The Federals rapidly acquired a fleet of monitors, because they were convinced of the superiority of that type of vessel, and had almost unlimited resources. The South built a few more broadside ironclads because it had no option in the matter. It was a case of taking wooden steamers and plating them as best it could with rolled-out railway metals, boiler plates, and, in fact, anything metallic that could be bolted on. The _Atlanta_, formerly the English steamer _Fingal_, was cut down much as the _Merrimac_ had been, and given a heavy wooden casemate plated with iron. The two monitors, _Nahant_ and _Weehawken_, were waiting for her, and when she set out from Savannah to look for them, they followed. So also did some steamers carrying a large number of Southerners who went to see their ship defeat the monitors. The _Atlanta_ fired one shot at the _Weehawken_ and missed, and the monitor returned the compliment by steaming to within 800 yards and firing her heavy 15-inch gun. The projectile smashed the _Atlanta’s_ armour and wooden backing, and the flying splinters wounded sixteen of the crew. She returned the fire two or three times without hitting once, but the _Weehawken’s_ second shot smashed the pilot-house and the third started the casemate from the deck. The _Atlanta_ surrendered in fifteen minutes after the firing of the first shot. Her subsequent employment was as a guardship in the northern fleet. The _Nahant_ did not fire. The _Albemarle_, another Confederate ram of the _Merrimac_ type, had a short but exciting career. She carried only two 100-pounder rifled guns, pivoted to fire end-on or on the broadside. Her first exploit was to ram the northern gunboat _Southfield_, in the Albemarle Sound; her ram entered about 10 feet, and the _Southfield_ began to sink so rapidly that, before she rolled off the _Albemarle’s_ ram, she nearly took the latter down with her. The _Albemarle_ afterwards fought a pitched battle with four northern paddle-wheel gunboats, and although she was rammed and damaged, she held her own. Her destruction may be said to have heralded the introduction of the torpedo boat, and for this reason is referred to in a subsequent chapter. [Illustration: THE “MONITOR” AND “ALBEMARLE” _From a Painting by Müller._]