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CSS Virginia (1862)

CSS Virginia was the first steam-powered ironclad warship built by the Confederate States Navy during the first year of the American Civil War; she was constructed as a casemate ironclad using the razéed (cut down) original lower hull and engines of the scuttled steam frigate USS Merrimack. Virginia was one of the participants in the Battle of Hampton Roads, opposing the Union's USS Monitor in March 1862. The battle is chiefly significant in naval history as the first battle between ironclads.

Following the advancement of Union forces on Norfolk on May 10, 1862, the Virginia's commanding officer, flag captain Josiah Tattnall III ordered her to be scuttled. Early on the morning of May 11, 1862, off Craney Island, fire and powder trails reached the ironclad's magazine and she was destroyed by a great explosion. What remained of the ship settled to the bottom of the harbor. Only a few remnants of Virginia have been recovered for preservation in museums; reports from the era indicate that her wreck was heavily salvaged following the war.