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Section 4: Impact on Naval Warfare (Study)
Impact upon naval warfare
Both days of the battle attracted attention from all the world's navies. The vulnerability of wooden hulls to armored ships was noted particularly in Britain and France, and sped up the conversation of their battle fleets to ironclad vessels. Impressed by the ease with which the Virginia had sunk the Cumberland, naval architects began to incorporate rams into their hull designs. The first purpose-built ram in the modern era was the French armored ram Taureau (1863), whose guns were said to have "the sole function of preparing the way for the ram." The inclusion of rams in warship hull design persisted almost to the outbreak of World War I, despite improvements in naval gunnery that quickly made close action between warships impossible.
Because of its turret, the USS Monitor, despite its lack of seaworthiness, became the model for future ironclad warships. The US immediately started the construction of ten more Monitor-style vessels with larger dimensions, and they played key roles in Civil War battles on the Mississippi and James rivers. Other nation built Monitor-style warships, and the design gradually evolved into the modern battleship.