THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603010206
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
It was supposed to be a re-enactment.
But with more than 3,000 spectators chanting ``Sink them, sink them, sink them,'' it was unlike Bill Whorton not to go, well, a little overboard.
At the helm of the 54-foot replica of the Confederate States Ship Virginia, Whorton threw his vessel into full throttle, broadsided the reproduction of the Union vessel Monitor and shoved it sideways through the Elizabeth River.
``They are very, very realistic battles,'' explained Whorton of last year's re-enactment of the 1862 Civil War battle between the world's first ironclad ships - the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor.
Since 1984, Whorton and two friends - along with more than a dozen Civil War re-enactors - have staged the skirmish annually on the water between Fort Norfolk and Hospital Point. The re-enactment is held on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the actual duel, which occurred March 9, 1862.
The battle is significant because it marked the end of the use of wooden ships in naval warfare.
This year's action will be held at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. March 10. Each of the engagements lasts about 20 to 25 minutes.
``We have real cannons, and it's extremely noisy,'' said Whorton. ``When we do a broadside, we set off all the car alarms for miles.''
Prior to Saturday's first battle, the Virginia will leave the Norfolk Naval Shipyard just as it did 134 years ago after being converted into an ironclad from the wooden steam frigate Merrimac. A ceremony by shipyard commander Capt. William R. Klemm is planned for about 9:45 a.m.
Sixteen Civil War buffs will then board the replica of the CSS Virginia, while three re-enactors will man the 34-foot reproduction of the USS Monitor.
The Southeast Tourism Society, which covers a 10-state area, selected the event as a Top 20 tourist attraction for March 1996. Whorton said the event is also being advertised in Southern Living, airline magazines and AAA mailings.
``It's a visual thing with a lot of smoke and powder flashes,'' said Whorton. ``It's realistic, the smoke chokes you, the noise is deafening. It's hot. It's just really an experience.''
The crowd this year is expected to reach 10,000-plus. Last year's event, which was only advertised locally, drew about 3,000 spectators.
The public can gather along Crawford Bay near Hospital Point on the Portsmouth side or along Fort Norfolk, an original fort now being used as an Army Corps of Engineers base in Norfolk. Admission is free, but a $2 donation, which goes to the fort's restoration, may be requested.
It was during Harborfest 13 years ago that Whorton and Ron Hess, owner of a gun and tackle shop in Norfolk, came up with the idea to stage the re-enactment.
``It was 1983 when this pitiful little runabout with this ridiculous turret on top was just puttering around and shooting at people,'' Whorton recalled.
``Ron and I were watching it all weekend and saying, `This is ridiculous. This is a southern city, and the best that anybody can come up with is a northern boat, the Monitor, and it's not even done right.' ''
Since Whorton had always been interested in history, Hess volunteered to come up with the cannons if Whorton built the replicas.
``So that summer and that winter, I built the first Virginia out of wood, and he did the cannons,'' said Whorton.
``We took it to Harborfest, we were in the Parade of Sail, then we realized it was kind of dumb having one boat because there was nothing to shoot at.''
So Whorton built the Monitor shortly thereafter. Five years later, in 1989, he constructed the second Virginia, while Mike Harrison of Willoughby Bay Marina built the second Monitor. Harrison also provides marina services for both boats. Hess provides the powder for the cannons.
``This is so expensive to do that it takes three of us to bring it all together,'' said Whorton, who added that powder and trucking expenses are usually paid for by the organization sponsoring the event. The Norfolk Historical Society, the Ship's Company CSS Virginia and the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues are sponsoring the event.
``It's normally about $1,000 for the powder,'' said Whorton. ``And if we have to use trucks to haul these boats, then it can get very expensive.''
The replicas used in this year's battle are the second set of boats built since the event started 12 years ago.
``We blew so many holes through the originals, the boats weren't repairable anymore, so we had to do away with those,'' said Whorton of the wooden boats first built in 1984.
``We shoot at point-blank range, right close to each other, and even a blank charge will blow a hole through the wood,'' he said. ``And we just did so much damage to them ramming each other.''
The newer boats are made out of fiberglass and are expected to last forever, he said.
With all the cannon fire and deliberate ramming, spectators must wonder just how dangerous the show is for the re-enactors.
``It's not for the faint-hearted, I'll put it that way,'' said Whorton.
Participants are drilled in safety procedures, while fire extinguishers and buckets of water line the interiors of both boats.
Though no one has ever been seriously injured, Whorton acknowledged that clothes sometimes get burned.
And apparently that's not all.
``We try to torch each other's flags,'' said Whorton. ``That's part of the game, where you try to put a cannon shot through their flag.''
Remnants of the Monitor's flag from last year's battle today hang on the wall of Whorton's den.
``It's a red and white striped flag with a black background - all the edges are black from where it was set on fire,'' he said proudly.
The trio has recently been invited to both Milwaukee and Rhode Island. In past years, they have hauled their boats to Northern Virginia and as far as the Midwest for re-enactments on the Potomac and Ohio rivers. The Civil War buffs are also regulars at local festivals like Norfolk's Harborfest and the Ocean View Festival.
But one of Whorton's most memorable re-enactments occurred at Hampton Bay Days.
``We actually boarded the Monitor because we have a lot more men,'' he said. ``And we pulled two guys out of the turret, and the guy in the pilot house was thrown overboard. The crowd was just screaming bloody murder. They loved it.
``We're out there competing, but we're all friends,'' he said.
``But yet we're out there trying to kill each other!'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Next weekend, replicas of the CSS Virginia, above, and the USS
Monitor will do battle, staged by Bill Whorton, left, and Brian
Howard.
KEYWORDS: MONITOR-MERRIMAC RE-ENACTMENT MONITOR-VIRGINIA RE-ENACTMENT by CNB