Warrior had 26x 4.5 inch cannon, 10x 7-inch cannon, and 4x 8.12 inch cannon in fixed broadside positions which allowed high rates of smaller-caliber fire but only in a rigidly-fixed broadside. The Monitor's armament was two 11-inch cannon in a traversable turret. In terms of armor Warrior had 4.5 inches of iron armor over 18 inches of teak above the waterline, while Monitor had 9 inches of iron on the turret and a belt that from what I can tell was about 5 inches of dedicated armor over a 6 inch iron stringer. This also gives the monitors somewhat of a logistical advantage in the long run (since I don't think a single battle would decide the fate of these ships) as the larger vessels would be dependent on rarer dedicated harbors to safely resupply and repair whereas a monitor could duck into a river and be tended anywhere that supplies could be moved. The Monitor-class ships were also capable of entering waters that the Warrior could never dream of- specifically, shallow, narrow rivers- which gives them a viable escape method from the Warrior's far superior speed. The Warrior and Black Prince were faster and much more capable of handling rough seas, but from all accounts a river monitor would have had a faster rate of turn due to being much shorter. The Monitor's massive 11-inch guns weren't firing at full charge due to concerns about catastrophic failure since this battle was pretty much it's shakedown cruise, and until a lucky hit on the pilot house's viewing slats the Virginia's 6 and 9 cannons couldn't do much to the Monitor's 9 inch thick turret armor (attempts to ram the Monitor actually only damaged Virginia.)
Virginia and Monitor both survived their first 4-hour engagement with overall relatively minor damage. The best analogy I can think of would be a land war where everyone is wearing full body armor but carrying a single-shot. Ironclad battles at this time were often rather anticlimactic since the abilities of iron armor usually outstripped the destructive capability of cannon technology at the time- they were limited in velocity due to using black powder rather than modern nitrocellulose propellant. "This is an incredible image and it brings up a lot of interesting what-if questions. Please tell me if this sounds right or is it utter hogwash? Who would win in a sea engagement between HMS Warrior and the USS Monitor? Why?
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