Naval Science.
	Nautical Measurements The USS Monitor was the Union Navy's response to the Confederate Navy's ironclad ship CSS Virginia (Merrimack). The two ships battled to a strategic draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on March 9, 1862. John Ericsson invented the caloric (heat) engine, as well as a steam condensor that allowed a steamer to produce fresh water while at sea. He is best remembered, however, as being the designer and builder of the USS Monitor, a unique ironclad ship that incorporated many elements still used in warship designs today. The USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the first nuclear powered ship in the world, and the first cross under the North Pole. She was launched on September 30, 1954, and was setting records for submarines by May of 1956. The historic voyage under the pole took place in August of 1958. The USS Missouri was the last U.S. battleship to be launched, and the last to be decommissioned. She was an integral part of the naval force during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was the site of Japan's surrender to the Allies. She also saw service during the Korean War, and in the Persian Gulf conflicts of 1987 and 1991. John Philip Holland launched his first successful submarine in 1881. The company he founded ultimately became the Electric Boat Company, which has subsequently built the vast majority of the U.S. Navy's submarines, as well as submarines for many other nations.