Cheese Box on a Raft

"The Monitor and Merrimac: The First Fight Between Ironclads", Louis Prang & Co., Boston (Source)

A comment from yesterday's post mentioned that the USS Zumwalt bore a resemblance to a "cheese box on a raft," which to folks of a certain age means one thing, and one thing only. The USS Monitor depicted on the right in that opening image. (Please note that I didn't name that image, I would have called the warship on the left by it's proper name, the CSS Virginia. But growing up as I did in the North, as a youth I always referred to those two ships as "the Monitor and the Merrimac." Of course, now I know better, but more on that in a bit.)

To me the USS Zumwalt looks more like a cross between the Virginia, with that sloped in hull and deck house, and the Monitor with it's unadorned superstructure and relative lack of any masts.

To refresh your memories, this is USS Zumwalt. (Source)

Shown below are two Arleigh Burke class destroyers presenting a more traditional (less stealthy) aspect.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), left, approaches the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95). Both ships are deployed supporting maritime security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Laura A. Moore)

And for those modern folk from non-cheese producing areas of the world, a cheese box is a real thing. It's where one might have kept a wheel of cheese, back in the day. I wonder how many of the audience has ever even seen a wheel of cheese? Ah, the things which make me ponder.

Cheese boxes, I can't say if there's any cheese in 'em. (Source)

To get back to our topic of ships, here's a couple of books I should have picked up a long time ago. I rectified that deficiency this past Saturday instant at my local purveyor of fine reading material, Barnes & Noble.

I saw the book on the left, which reminded me of Skip's comment yesterday referring to "Tin Can Sailors," he was one of those mind you (as were the two oldest of the progeny). I'm familiar with the story and the exceptional bravery shown by those men in their small ships. The book on the right just looks damned good (I had read a review of it some time back) and am familiar, though not in detail, with the fighting in the waters off Guadalcanal. As the same chap wrote both books, they make a nice matching set.

One last historical note on the battle in Hampton Roads between Monitor and Virginia, well let's give you a video instead. It's a pretty good summary and has a very human touch at the end. (Also interesting, perhaps only to me, one of the submarine combat systems I was privileged to work on was for a certain class of submarine, the Virginia class. Proud heritage there methinks.) You can read more about the battle here as well. The video also explains why some folk called the Virginia, the Merrimac. She started life as the latter, went to war as the former.

Quite a story, neh?