| When Confederate forces took the Norfolk Naval Yard,
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| They found the remains of the USS Merrimack. |
| They
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| Raised her and converted her into a Casemate Ironclad
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| Ram and armed her with 10 guns. |
| Renamed the CSS
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| Virginia, her first military action sank the Union
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| Ships Congress and Cumberland, making the Union fleet
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| Obsolete overnight. |
| In response to this new ominous
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| Threat, the Union built a bigger monster of their own —
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| The Monitor!
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| The Metal Tyrant of the sea
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| We’ll bring the South down to it’s knees
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| All engines full for ramming speed
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| Nine plates of iron and blackened steel
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| From the mind of John Ericsson in 1861
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| 118 days it took to fit her with her guns
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| To answer the Confederates a fit courageous crew
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| They launched her to serve Liberty in 1862
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| The Monitor, the Iron Scourge
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| The Metal Tyrant of the sea
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| The Monitor, a slaughterer
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| Will bring the South down to it’s knees
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| The Monitor, the forefather
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| Of naval combat for the free
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| The Monitor, a murderer
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| Engines full for ramming speed!
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| As she steamed ahead, they set sail for hell
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| Sinking deep down to the depths, dead sailors never
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| Tell
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| In the battle of Hampton Roads the Merrimack would
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| Fight
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| Only one dared challenge her, they’d battle on this
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| Night
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| Four hours cannons lighting up the skyline
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| Neither ship could turn the battle tide
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| A hit from their cannons and the captain became blind
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| First Officer Greene took the helm and refused to run
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| And hide
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| The seas were rough while undertow the waves were
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| Crashing high
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| On New Year’s Eve right off the coast some 16 men would
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| Die
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| She holds today a legacy her history enshrined
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| The fiercest of the ironclads, a legend of her time
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| The Monitor, the Iron Scourge
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| The Metal Tyrant of the sea
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| The Monitor, a slaughterer
|
| Will bring the South down to it’s knees
|
| The Monitor, the forefather
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| Of naval combat for the free
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| The Monitor, a mariner
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| Engines full for ramming speed!
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| The Metal Tyrant of the sea
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| We’ll bring the South down to it’s knees
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| All engines full for ramming speed
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| Nine plates of iron and blackened steel
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| The Monitor! |