page_title: Austro-Italian ironclad arms race
section_title: The Battle of Hampton Roads
hierarchical_section_title: Austro-Italian ironclad arms race / Escalation of the arms race / The Battle of Hampton Roads
caption_attribution_description: English: "The Monitor and Merrimac: The First Fight Between Ironclads", a chromolithograph of the Battle of Hampton Roads, produced by Louis Prang &amp; Co., Boston
context_page_description: A naval arms race between the Austrian Empire and Italy began in the 1860s when both ordered a series of ironclad warships, steam-propelled vessels protected by iron or steel armor plates and far more powerful than all-wood ships of the line. These ships were constructed to establish control over the Adriatic Sea in the event of a conflict between the two countries.
  The unification of much of Italy in this time period resulted in the amalgamation of the various navies of the former Italian states into the Regia Marina. The Sardinian component included two Formidabile-class ironclads, ordered from France in 1860, which became Italy's first broadside ironclads. The country quickly began a substantial construction program to bolster the Regia Marina, as the Italians believed that a strong navy would play a crucial role in making the recently unified kingdom a great power.
  These actions captured the attention of the Austrian Empire, which viewed Italy with great suspicion and worry, as irredentist claims by Italian nationalists were directed at key Austrian territories such as Venice, Trentino, and Trieste.
context_section_description: In April 1862, news from across the Atlantic Ocean of the Battle of Hampton Roads reached both Italy and Austria. On 8 March 1862, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia attacked the Union blockade fleet anchored in Hampton Roads. In the ensuing battle, Virginia sank the sailing frigates USS Congress and USS Cumberland. The next day, Virginia engaged the Union armored turret ship USS Monitor, and the two ironclads fought one another to a standstill.
  The battle was be the first ever engagement between ironclad warships, and the difference between the first day of the battle when Virginia easily destroyed two wooden frigates, compared to the draw in her battle with the ironclad Monitor the following day, left an impression on most of the major navies in the world. Indeed, the battle received worldwide attention. The preeminent naval powers, the United Kingdom and France, halted further construction of wooden-hulled ships after receiving reports of the battle. The use of a small number of very heavy guns, mounted so that they could fire in all directions was first demonstrated by Monitor but soon became standard in warships of all types. Shipbuilders also incorporated rams like the kind employed by Virginia into the designs of warship hulls around the world. Within Austria and Italy, the Battle of Hampton Roads would prove to have a decisive impact on the course of the Austro-Italian ironclad arms race, influencing both nations' decision to continue with their ironclad programs and effectively resulting in the abandonment of wooden vessels forever.
  In Austria, the results of the battle were so decisive that Rechberg reversed his opinion completely upon learning of the engagement, and asked the Reichsrat to approve all the new naval expenditures Ferdinand Max had been calling for. In June, the Austrian Reichsrat approved Archduke Ferdinand Max's budget, but directed the Oberkommandant der Marine to cut expenditures not related to training, naval construction and ship maintenance. The Reichsrat also ordered Ferdinand Max to purchase more coal from domestic sources, and to only rarely send warships out beyond the Mediterranean Sea. For 1863, the Imperial Austrian Navy was allocated some 8,900,000 Florins, a huge sum and far higher than previous budget outlays for naval affairs, but this was below the 10,900,000 Florins that Ferdinand Max had originally asked for. In compensation however, Wickenburg was able to acquire a further 4,000,000 Florins from the Reichsrat for the navy's 1862 budget. In November, the bill was approved and the Imperial Austrian Navy received its largest budget in history.
  In Italy, the new Italian government convened on 7 March 1862, just one day before the Virginia wreaked havoc on the Union's unarmored warships. When news of the battle reached the Italian government, Persano addressed the Chamber of Deputies about the battle and argued Menabrea's proposed four ships-of-the-line were technologically obsolete, and that Regia Marina instead needed to acquire additional ironclads. Persano's plan included purchasing four ironclads from French shipyards, and constructing three additional ironclads domestically. This proposal was further revised in June, when Persano addressed the Chamber of Deputies and shared his support for incorporating Menabrea's earlier plan to purchase two ironclads from British shipyards, bringing the total number of proposed ironclads the Regia Marina would construct or purchase by 1865 to nine.
caption: A chromolithograph depicting the Battle of Hampton Roads. The battle between the ironclads CSS Virginia and USS Monitor forever changed naval warfare and solidified both Austria's and Italy's decisions to continue with their own ironclad programs.
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