Notice that the Pilot onboard the Cumberland stated that the battle lasted 3/4 of an hour, and that she gave the Virginia her pivot guns, then 'six to eight broadsides', before she was rammed. She did not sink instantly, but kept firing a considerable time afterwards and fired 'constantly'. This was at odds with Lieutenant Selfridge's account, who complained that the Virginia attacked her bow on, who only the forward pivot and one broadside gun run out the bridle port would bear, and that the Cumberland fired only three broadsides, but even they, only after the ironclad had withdrawn.
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Stephen Duffy, on Flickr