John Lorimer Worden
John Lorimer Worden (12 March 1818 – 19 October 1897) was a U.S. rear admiral who served in the American Civil War. He commanded Monitor against the Confederate vessel Virginia (originally named Merrimack) in first battle of ironclad ships in 1862.
Worden as a Lieutenant, circa 1862
Background and early career[]
Worden was born in Sparta, Mount PleasantTownship, Westchester County, New York. He grew up in Fishkill, New York, and was married to Olivia Toffey, the aunt of Daniel Toffey, captain's clerk of the USS Monitor. He was appointed midshipman in the Navy on 10 January 1834. He served his first three years in the sloop-of-war Erie on the Brazil Station. Following that, he was briefly assigned to the sloop Cyane before reporting to the Naval School at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for seven months of instruction. He returned to sea in July 1840 for two years with the Pacific Squadron.
Between 1844 and 1846, Worden was stationed at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. During the Mexican-American War, he cruised the west coast, primarily in the store ship Southampton, but in other ships as well. In 1850, he returned to the Naval Observatory for another two-year tour of duty. The ensuing nine years were filled with sea duty which took Worden on several cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas.
Civil War service[]
Brought to Washington early in 1861, he received orders in April to carry secret dispatches—regarding the reinforcement of Fort Pickens—south to the warships at Pensacola. During the return journey north, Worden was arrested near Montgomery, Alabama, and was held prisoner until exchanged about seven months later.
Taking command of Monitor[]
Though still ill as a result of his imprisonment, Lieutenant[1][2] Worden accepted orders to command the new ironclad Monitor on 16 January 1862. He reported to her building site at Greenpoint in Brooklyn on Long Island and supervised her completion. He placed the new warship in commission at the New York Navy Yard on 25 February and two days later sailed for Hampton Roads. However, steering failure forced the ironclad back to New York for repairs. On 6 March, she headed south again, this time under tow by Seth Low.
On the afternoon of 8 March, Worden's command approached Cape Henry, Virginia, while inside Hampton Roads, the Confederacy's own ironclad, CSS Virginia, wreaked havoc with the Union Navy's wooden blockading fleet. During that engagement, the Southern warship sank the sloop Cumberland and severely damaged Congress and Minnesota before retiring behind Sewell's Point. Arriving on the scene too late to participate in the engagement, Worden and his command set about assisting the grounded Minnesota.
The battle of the ironclads[]
At daybreak on the 9th, Virginia emerged once more from behind Sewell's Point to complete her reduction of the Federal fleet at Hampton Roads. As the Confederate ironclad approached Minnesota, Worden maneuvered Monitor from the grounded ship's shadow to engage Virginia in the battle that revolutionized naval warfare. For four hours, the two iron-plated ships slugged it out as they maneuvered in the narrow channel of Hampton Roads, pouring shot and shell at one another to almost no visible effect. Three hours into the slug fest, Worden received facial wounds when a Confederate shell exploded just outside the pilot house that partially blinded him. He relinquished command to his first officer, Samuel D.Greene. About an hour later, Monitor withdrew from the battle temporarily and, upon her return to the scene, found that Virginia, too, had withdrawn. The first battle between steam-driven, armored ships had ended in a draw.
Other wartime commands[]
After the battle, Worden moved ashore to convalesce from his wounds. During that recuperative period, he received the accolade of a grateful nation, the official thanks of the United States Congress, and promotion to commander [3]. Late in 1862, he took command of the ironclad monitor Montauk and placed her in commission at New York on 14 December 1862. Later in the month, Worden took his new ship south to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Port Royal, South Carolina. On 27 January 1863, he led his ship in the bombardment of Fort McAllister. A month later, newly promoted Captain Worden took his ship into the Ogeechee River, found the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake (formerly CSS Nashville), and destroyed her with five well-placed shots. His last action came of 7 April 1863, when Montauk participated in an attack on Charleston, South Carolina.
Post-war career and last years[]
Not long after the Charleston attack, Capt. Worden received orders to shore duty in conjunction with the construction of ironclads in New York. That assignment lasted until the late 1860s. In 1869, Commodore Worden began a five-year tour as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.[4] In 1872, Worden was promoted to Rear Admiral.
During the late 1870s, he commanded the European Squadron, visiting ports in northern Europe and patrolling the eastern Mediterranean during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He returned ashore and concluded his naval career as a member of the Examining Board and as President of the Retiring Board. When he retired on 23 December 1886, Congress voted him full sea pay in his grade for life.
Rear Admiral Worden resided in Washington, D.C., until his death from pneumonia on 19 October 1897. After funeral services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, he was buried in the Pawling Cemetery in Pawling, New York. He was married to Olivia Toffey (1820–1903), and she and three of their four children survived him. His oldest son was John Lorimer Worden, Jr. (1845–1873), who served as a volunteer captain in the U.S. Army during the Civil War and later as a first lieutenant in the regular army until his death in 1873. The second son was Daniel Toffey Worden (1847–1914), a Wall Street stock broker. Worden also had two daughters, Grace Worden (1852–1905) and Olivia Steele Worden (1856–1933). Worden's widow and all of his children except Daniel were buried with him in Pawling, New York. He has no living direct descendants named Worden, although one namesake, a first cousin three times removed, is an attorney with the firm Simonds Winslow Willis & Abbott in Boston, he is a graduate of Harvard Law School and is active in local politics in Arlington, MA.
Namesake[]
Fort Worden, located in Port Townsend, Washington and four United States Navy ships have been named USS Worden for him. The parade field at the United States Naval Academy is named in his honor.
See also[]
List of Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy
References[]
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- ↑ Official rank until 16 July 1862: might have held acting rank of Commander
- ↑ "US Navy Officers 1775-1900". http://www.history.navy.mil/books/callahan/reg-usn-w.htm. Retrieved 6-10-2009.
- ↑ "US People - John L. Worden". http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-w/j-wrdn.htm. Retrieved 06-10-09.
- ↑ US Naval Academy: 1860s history
- Nelson, James L. 2004. The Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack. HarperCollins Publishers, NY. ISBN 0-06-052403-0
External links[]
- Rear Admiral John L. Worden, USN
- Mizzentop's History
- Works by John Lorimer Worden at Project Gutenberg
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