she will always be the merimac. of a some one doesn't approve, every time i say merimac, mentally insert virginia. the race to build an ironclad warship was well under way before the civil war ever began. and indeed, the race had begun really by the -- turn of the 19th century. that is in 10800. if not before. and in fact one of the first people to propose one of these more modern warships was robert fulton. fulton actually builds, designs and builds the first steam warship for the u.s. navy, which eventually bears his name. he also -- tried to sell the french -- an idea for his submarine. he had a submarine called the nautilus which he tried to -- to sell to the french and other governments -- no one really was buy. it was quite a risky venture. no one thought they would waste money on it. also -- clinton roosevelt. writes in, 1840, and he sends in this lovely color -- almost a painting -- it's a rather massive -- series of-duf -- of paper, invulnerable steam battery which sort of looks merimac-esque, if you go by