The USS Monitor.
boats
Because over their wooden hull the builders had applied a coating of iron, which clad them completely even under the water line, so they had been actually clad with iron: "Ironclad".
iron clad ships
Virginia, Manassas (Iron clad ram-boat), Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Stonewall, Chicora, Alabama, Albemarle.
Monitor is the iron clad fighting for the Union. Virginia is the iron clad fighting for the Confederacy. Both ships were equaly matched resulting in a stalemate.
Iron clad ships were introduced into battle
Iron Clad Ships, Better Rifles, and More advanced cannons.
The Battle of Mobile Bay.
Ironclads were sunk by mines (called torpedos in the Civil War). No iron clad was sunk during surface actions.
The USS Monitor.
Iron Clad Building was created in 1862.
The two most famous iron-clad ships of the civil war era were the Union's USS Monitor, and the Confederacy's CSS Virginia. They were made famous when they fought at the battle of Hampton Roads, the first confrontation between two iron-clads. (Found on many other sites also, please remember the sites that this was found on may or my not be true)