 The residents of Melbourne, realising they were vulnerable to attack by others, especially the Russians due to the events during the war, hurried to build coastal defence forts.This included the government of Victoria requesting an ironclad ship to be sent to protect the colony, after the values of ironclads were demonstrated during the American Civil War's Battle of Hampton Roads.The monitor HMVS "Cerberus" was constructed during the late 1860s, and duly arrived in Victoria in 1871.