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The ironclad navy of the Civil War was neither all wood nor all iron.  Nevertheless, the ironclad navy represented the first, halting steps into the modern age.  Even though many of the hulls were still wood with but a veneer of iron, such vessels as the Monitor and the vessels they spawned would soon become commonplace.  The age of sail was over and had been since the Monitor and Virginia fought their legendary duel in 1862.  It was a new Navy in 1865, even though hard-bitten conservatives in Washington had been loathe to trade traditional wooden hulls and canvas for an all-steel fleet.