A truly radical one-off design, to fit into the tightly confined spaces of a truly radical one-off design.
The Monitor had so many unique design features that it boggles the mind, and to think that it was designed and built in such an incredibly short time, and was for the most part wholly successful, though a good seaboat she was not!
John Ericsson was a true genius of the first order, but also something of a unique personality that made him difficult for most to deal with it seems.