USS Merrimack (1855)

USS Merrimack; Engraving by L.H. Bradford & Co., after a drawing by G.G. Pook
History
United States
Name	Merrimack
Ordered	6 April 1854
Launched	15 June 1855
Commissioned	20 February 1856
Decommissioned	16 February 1860
Fate	Burned and sunk in dock, 20 April 1861 Raised and converted into ironclad CSS Virginia
General characteristics
Tonnage	3,200
Length	275 ft (84 m)
Beam	38.5 ft (11.7 m)
Draft	24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion	sail, steam engine
Speed	12 knots
Armament	14 × 8-inch guns, 2 × 10-inch guns, 24 × 9-inch guns

USS Merrimack, variant spelling Merrimac, was a steam frigate, best known as the hull upon which the ironclad warship CSS Virginia was constructed during the American Civil War. The CSS Virginia then took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads (also known as "the Battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack") in the first engagement between ironclad warships.

Merrimack was the first of six screw frigates (steam frigates powered by screw propellers) begun in 1854. Like others of her class (Wabash, Roanoke, Niagara, Minnesota and Colorado), she was named after a river. The Merrimack originates in New Hampshire and flows through the town of Merrimac, Massachusetts, often considered an older spelling which has sometimes caused confusion of the name.^[1] After the ship was burned on April 20 1861, it was rebuilt with iron siding in the American Civil War by the Confederacy and renamed the Virginia.