On this day in 1862, the CSS Virginia sailed out of Norfolk, VA and sank the two Union frigates USS Cumberland and Congress. It marked the beginning of the end for wood hulled warships. The next day the Virginia and the USS Monitor fought to a draw in the first iron vs. iron armored sea battle. Things would never be the same, culminating 80 years later with this baby. Of course by then, thanks to naval aviation and submarines, the armored ship was already obsolete.
On a funny note - I originally spelled “armored” as “armoured”. I couldn’t figure out why it was getting marked as a misspelling, until I remembered that every book I had as a kid discussing naval history was published in the UK. Good to see the Brits are still go at something - talking about how good they were. ;-)