When the first states seceded from the Union in April of 1861, their Confederate forces took control of the Norfolk Naval Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. There, they used the partially burnt USS Merrimack and its parts to build the South’s first ironclad warship. The ironclad warship was a new idea and a new technology that both sides invested money, resources, men, and time to have more ironclad warships. When the CSS Virginia was mostly complete, her captain was eager to test out the new ship, even though the ship still had workers working on it. The captain took 3 gunboats and 2 tenders with him to attack the Union ships that were preventing the Confederates from receiving aid by blockading the mouth of Elizabeth River.