CSS Virginia II CSS Virginia II was a Confederate Navy steam - powered ironclad ram laid down in 1862 at the William Graves ' shipyard in Richmond , Virginia . Acting Constructor William A . Graves , CSN , was the superintendent in charge of her construction . In order to conserve scarce iron plating , he ordered the ship ' s armored casemate shortened from the specifications given in John L . Porter ' s original building plans ; in addition , the ship ' s iron - plating , while six inches thick on the casemate ' s forward face , was reduced to five inches on her port , starboard , and aft faces . Due to the shortening of her casemate , the number of her cannon were reduced to a single 11 " smoothbore , a single 8 " rifle , and two 6 . 4 " rifles . The " Virginia II " was named after the more famous Confederate ironclad , CSS " Virginia " , also called the " Merrimack " because of the ship ' s origins as a Union man - o - war . The original " Virginia " ' s success at the Battle of Hampton Roads caused " gunboat associations " to emerge around the South , mainly driven by women ; their efforts helped with the construction of the " Virginia II " . Construction . Money to help with the construction of this ironclad was largely contributed by the Richmond chapter of the " Ladies Aid and Defense Society " ( called the " National Defense Association " ) , which adopted the ironclad in early April 1862 for the defense of Richmond . The chairman was Maria Gaitskell Clopton . It is estimated that the society contributed more than $ 30 , 000 towards " Virginia II " s construction . By November 1862 , John Mercer Brooke was able to report that she was " pretty well advanced , frames up , clamps in , etc . . . She will be a strong and fine vessel . " However , after this promising start , significant delays plagued the new ironclad . It was not until more than a year after she was laid down that " Virginia II " was finally launched without incident on June 29 , 1863 . " She glided into the water ' like a thing of life ' amid the prolonged cheers of the spectators . " However , she suffered from further fitting - out delays and was not fully commissioned until May 18 , 1864 , almost a year later ; she was made the flagship of the James River Squadron ( replacing CSS " Richmond " in this role ) . Career . " Virginia II " went into action on June 21 , 1864 as the flagship of Commodore John K . Mitchell , CSN , during the engagement between the Confederate James River Squadron and Federal ships in Trent ' s Reach . But the ironclad developed mechanical problems when a errant chain from the nearby CSS " Richmond " became entangled in her propeller , and she could no longer participate in the battle . On August 13 , the Virginia II participated in the attack on the Union forces at Dutch Gap . USS " Maugus " and her gunboats joined in the battle but could not effectively train their guns , though they did manage to fire two shots that hit " Virginia II " . On August 17 , she participated in the capture of Signal Hill , shelling the Union defenses from 3 p . m . until 9 p . m . before finally ceasing fire . From September 29 through October 1 , the " Virginia II " and the rest of the squadron attacked New Market Heights and Fort Harrison in conjunction with the Confederate Army ; it was the largest operation north of the James River since the Cold Harbor and would remain so until the end of the war . Once again , though , the Virginia II suffered difficulty , delaying her entrance into the battle . She had just received a new cannon , and in the rush to leave the dock , the supply ship " Gallego " became entangled in her anchor chain , causing the " Gallego " to sink . In their routine patrol of the James River , the squadron was surprised to discover , on the morning of October 22 , that the Union Army had finished fortifying Cox Hill . To cover the retreat of the Confederate wooden vessels , " Virginia II " approached the battery , followed by two ironclads , and effected a retreat upstream to Chaffin ' s Bluff . During this , the " Virginia II " s smokestack was riddled by shells . Though caught by surprise , this small action helped determine the effectiveness of the ironclads ' armored casemates against close rifled cannon fire , and in the case of the " Virginia II " , the results were favorable : her casemate withstood 7 direct hits by 100 - pound conical iron " bolts , " which barely dented her plating . On December 7 " Virginia II " , along with the " Fredericksburg " and " Richmond " , steamed down to Fort Brady near Trent ' s Reach and near sunset exchanged cannon fire with the fort until darkness fell . Battle of Trent ' s Reach . Her final action took place on January 23 – 24 , 1865 when the Confederate squadron in the James River , including ironclad s " Virginia II " , CSS " Richmond " , and CSS " Fredericksburg " , with five smaller vessels , made a second unsuccessful attempt to circumvent obstructions in Trent ' s Reach . A reliable report indicated there was a passage through , as a result of a freshet of melting ice . To avoid the risk of collision , the gunboats and tenders were lashed to the starboard sides of the ironclads ; " Virginia II " accreted to her bulk the gunboats " Nansemond " and " Torpedo " , with the torpedo boat " Scorpion " in tow . After passing the Union batteries at Fort Brady sometime after 8 p . m . , the " Virginia II " accidentally beached " Torpedo " by cutting too close to the shore . The captain of " Nansemond " untied his ship from " Virginia II " in an attempt to free " Torpedo " . The fleet continued on and reached the obstructions at Trent ' s Reach . Again " Virginia II " ran into trouble , this time running aground ; the smaller ships tried to free her for three hours . Only two ships made it through , the rest were either running aground or helping the ones that had already run aground . Dawn came with most of the squadron in full view of the Union fortifications at Battery Parsons , and they had to suffer fire until the water rose high enough to allow them to finally retreat . In late morning , just as the water was high enough to re - float " Virginia II " , the Union fleet arrived and added its firepower . This time it was much more deadly : the double - turreted monitor USS " Onondaga " was able to pierce her armor with its shot . " Virginia II " and the rest of the squadron retreated upstream until they were safely under the cover of Confederate Battery Dantzler . They attempted to run past again that night , but Union soldiers had erected a huge light illuminating the obstructions ; this , combined with several other factors , forced the attempt to be abandoned . While leaving , " Hampton " managed to entangle her screw propeller in " Virginia II " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s anchor chain . They suffered more heavy fire on their return upriver from Fort Brady , and " Virginia II " ran aground again before making it to the safety of Chaffin ' s Bluff . " Virginia II " had at least 6 killed and more than a half dozen wounded from the action ; she also suffered heavy battle damage which required extensive repairs . Her smokestack was destroyed , the engines became faulty , and her iron armor and underlying wooden framework were damaged . Destruction of " Virginia II " . Her repairs had just been completed when " Virginia II " and the other Confederate warships of the James River Squadron were ordered destroyed by squadron commander Admiral Raphael Semmes , this to prevent their eventual capture by rapidly advancing Union forces during the evacuation and fall of Richmond on April 3 , 1865 . Following the end war , the wreck of the " Virginia II " was raised for salvage .