Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images On March 9, 1862, Confederate Navy ship CSS Virginia and Union navy ship USS Monitor met in battle off the coast of Virginia. Their clash was inconclusive, but the battle was the first time metal warships had squared off, and it changed naval warfare forever. As dawn broke over Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862, the Confederate Navy ironclad CSS Virginia left the Gosport Naval Yard and sailed toward the grounded Union frigate USS Minnesota. The day before, on its maiden voyage, the Virginia achieved a shocking victory against the Union Navy's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, sinking two ships and causing three more to run aground. Virginia's crew now planned to finish off the three ships and break the Union blockade of Norfolk.