When the Merrimac steamed back the Monitor moved out from her position and boldly advanced to meet her.  The huge monster and smaller craft, whose appearance suggested the apt comparison of a cheese box on a raft, silently drew near each other until within a hundred yards, when the smaller opened with a shot to which the larger replied.  The battle was now between two ironclads.  If the shots of the Monitor glanced harmlessly off of the Merrimac those of the latter were equally ineffective against the Monitor.  The latter had the advantage of being so much smaller that many of the shells of the Merrimac missed her altogether.  Those which impinged against the pilot house or turret did no harm, while the lesser boat was able to dart here and there at will, dodging the Merrimac and ramming her when she chose, though such tactics accomplished nothing.  All attempts to run down the Monitor were vain.  The novel battle continued for four hours, when the Merrimac, unable to defeat her nimble antagonist, steamed back to Norfolk and the strange contest—­the first between ironclads—­was over.

The Monitor had proven her inestimable value and was held in reserve by the Government for future emergencies.  But the first battle between the two proved the last.  Some months later, when the Union troops advanced upon Norfolk, the Merrimac was blown up to prevent her falling into the hands of the Federals, while at the close of the year the Monitor foundered in a gale off Cape Hatteras.

This fight marked an era in the history of naval warfare.  The days of wooden vessels were numbered.  All nations saw that their warships to be effective must be ironclad, and the reader does not need to be reminded that such is the fact to-day respecting the navy of every civilized nation.

During this memorable fight a shell from the Merrimac lifted the iron plate of the pilot house of the Monitor and disabled Lieutenant Worden by driving the fragments into his face, while he was peering out of the peep-hole.  He was compelled to give way to Lieutenant Green, who handled the little ironclad throughout the remainder of the fight.

Lieutenant Worden never fully recovered from the injuries received in his fight with the Merrimac.  As soon as he was able to take an active command he asked the privilege of doing so.  In charge of the Montauk, of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, he destroyed, while under a heavy fire, the Confederate steamer Nashville and participated in the unsuccessful attack upon Charleston.  He received the thanks of Congress and was promoted to be a commander for his services with the Monitor.  From 1870 to 1874 he was superintendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, becoming commodore in 1868, rear admiral in 1872 and was retired in 1886.  It was said that he never was without pain from the injuries received in the battle with the Merrimac until his death, October 18, 1897.