DWIGHT HUGHES
speaks about 
"The USS Monitor at Hampton Roads"


A copy of the materials displayed 
during his presentation is available HERE
or visit
presentation to the
Civil War Round Table of the District of Columbia 
Via Zoom
on January 26, 2021

About the Topic:
The USS Monitor was an ingenious but hurried response to both the imminent threat of the Confederate ironclad, CSS Virginia, and to the growing prospect of international intervention in favor of Rebels backed up by powerful British or French seagoing ironclads. The United States had no defenses against either menace. 

The USS Monitor would become a cultural icon of American industrial strength and ingenuity; she embodied and popularized social and institutional as well as industrial revolutions. But this was largely a symbolic role that would far outshine her actual accomplishments beyond a single engagement in a specific set of circumstances. 

This presentation takes the Monitor from her inception in the mind of her brilliant inventor through the dramatic first clash of ironclads at Hampton Roads. Based on the forthcoming book for the Emerging Civil War series, Unlike Anything That Ever Floated: The Monitor and Virginia and the Battle Hampton Roads, March 8-9, 1862 (Savas Beatie).


About the Speaker:
Dwight S. Hughes is a public historian, author, and speaker about Civil War naval history.

Mr. Hughes graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1967 with a major in History and Government. He served twenty years as a Navy surface warfare officer on most of the world’s oceans in ships ranging from destroyers to aircraft carriers and with river forces in Vietnam (Bronze Star for Meritorious Service, Purple Heart).

Lieutenant Commander Hughes taught Naval ROTC at the University of Rochester, earning an MA in Political Science. He later earned an MS in Information Systems Management from USC. In his final sea tour, Commander Hughes planned and conducted convoy exercises with over twenty ships of the Maritime Prepositioned Force, Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean.

Mr. Hughes's second career involved software engineering, primarily in geographic feature naming data and electronic mapping under contract for the U.S. Geological Survey. A ridge in Antarctica is named after him in recognition of his contributions to Antarctic databases and information services.

Mr. Hughes's current calling melds a love of the sea and ships with a lifetime study of naval history. His commitment is to advance the understanding of our Civil War naval heritage and to communicate that heritage in an educational and entertaining manner especially for new generations. He has presented to numerous Civil War Round Tables, historical conferences, and other venues.

Aside from his upcoming book on the USS Monitor, he has authored A Confederate Biography: The Cruise of the CSS Shenandoah (Naval Institute Press, 2015) and is a contributing author at the Emerging Civil War blog (https://emergingcivilwar.com/). His new book will be published in the spring of 2021. 

Mr. Hughes lives near Manassas, Virginia with his wife, Judi, a former Air Force officer and Electronics/Communications Engineer.

For information about the Round Table and to apply for membership, visit www.cwrtdc.org and click the Tab marked "About Us/ Membership." 
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