Ship Modelers Database
Image: Public domain · commons.wikimedia.org
CSS Virginia
Scuttled/Destroyed 1862 (no longer exists)
CSS Virginia was the Confederate States Navy's first steam-powered ironclad, built during the opening year of the American Civil War by razeeing and rebuilding the hull and engines of the scuttled Union steam frigate USS Merrimack into a casemate ironclad. She is best remembered for fighting the Union's USS Monitor at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, the first engagement between ironclad warships in naval history.
Kits of this ship
+ Add a kitNo image | CSS Virginia/USS Merrimack | Flagship Models | 1:192 (1/16 in=1 ft) | Resin | Discontinued |
No image | Monitor and Virginia Combo | BlueJacket Shipcrafters | 1:192 (1/16 in=1 ft) | Solid Hull | Available |
No image | CSS 'Virginia' | Modelarstwo kartonowe | 1:350 | Card | Available |
| CSS Virginia | BlueJacket Shipcrafters | 1:192 (1/16 in=1 ft) | Solid Hull | Available | |
No image | 1/200 Confederate CSS Virginia Green Hull Paper Model | ProArte | 1:200 | Card | Available |
No image | CSS 'Virginia' | Modelarstwo kartonowe | 1:200 | Card | Available |
No image | 1/200 USS Monitor & CSS Virginia Battle of Hampton Roads Paper Model | ProArte | 1:200 | Card | Available |
| C.S.S. Virginia 1/96th Scale | Cottage Industry Models | 1:96 (1/8 in=1 ft) | Resin | Available | |
No image | CSS Virginia | OKB Grigorov | 1:700 | Resin | Available |
| CSS Virginia Civil War Ironclad Waterline | Verlinden Productions | 1:200 | Resin | Discontinued |
Plans
No plan sets listed for this ship yet. Know of museum, archive or publisher drawings? Add them so the next builder can find them.
Links go to the publisher's or museum's own page. Ship Modelers Database lists plan sets; it doesn't host or display the drawings.
Build logs
+ Link a build log- CSS Virginia kit K1041 BlueJacket Model 1/16 '' = 1feet
Charles QC · Ships of Scale · CSS 'Virginia'
Complete build log with hull study, jig construction, armor research and installation, painting, rigging details, and final finished model photos displayed with Monitor for scale comparison.
Resources
+ Submit a resourceHistory & specifications
- American Battlefield Trust: Hampton Roads Battle FactsArticle
Summary of the Battle of Hampton Roads with ship dimensions and tactical details.
- CSS Virginia WikipediaWikipedia Entry
Museums & archives
- The Mariners' Museum: Guns of CSS VirginiaMuseum
Detailed account of the ship's armament and casemate construction, useful for modeling the gun deck layout.
Photos
- Wikimedia Commons: CSS Virginia 1862 period printPhoto
Public domain 19th-century image of CSS Virginia used as the reference illustration for this record.
History
Service history
Commissioned February 17, 1862, Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads on March 8 and destroyed the Union sloops USS Cumberland and USS Congress, prompting panic in Washington before the Union's own ironclad USS Monitor arrived to challenge her the next day in an inconclusive but historic slugging match. With Norfolk threatened by advancing Union forces in early May 1862, and her deep draft preventing an escape up the James River, her crew scuttled and burned her near Craney Island on May 11, 1862 to prevent capture.
Notable facts
Virginia's poorly maintained salvaged engines and heavy iron/ballast load gave her a huge turning circle of about a mile, taking roughly 45 minutes to complete, a serious handicap against the far more maneuverable Monitor. Her makeshift, sloped-roof casemate design was intended to deflect shot but gave her a famously ungainly "floating barn roof" appearance that modelers often note as one of her most distinctive features.