"Ericsson Battery of Two Guns of 12 inch Calibre. [sic] Plan and Side Elevation." U.S.S. Monitor
By John Ericsson, October 1861
Ink and graphite on tracing linen
16 1/2" x 26 1/2"
National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Bureau of Ships

Ericsson's U.S.S. Monitor
John Ericsson was a Swedish American inventor, engineer, and ship designer. In spite of his experience, his proposal for an ironclad ship with a revolving gun turret was mockingly called "a tin can on a shingle." Ericsson's design for "an Iron-Clad-Shot-Proof Steam Battery of iron and wood," the U.S.S. Monitor, was approved only after President Abraham Lincoln heard of the proposal and declared, " . . . I think there's something in it." The Monitor was built in 100 days. In the famous Civil War sea battle off Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1862, the Union's U.S.S. Monitor and the Confederate C.S.S. Merrimack fought to a draw in the first naval engagement between two ironclads.