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John Lorimer Worden
Lieutenant Commander
(January 11-March 9, 1861)
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John
Worden, commander of the USS Monitor
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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John Lorimer Worden was born in Sing
Sing, Westchester County, New York, on March 12, 1818. His father,
Ananias Worden, was a modest farmer. At the age of 16 John Worden
joined the Navy as a midshipman; his first ship was the Erie.
In 1844, Worden was ordered to the Naval Observatory in Washington,
D.C., where he compiled information from ships' logs concerning
currents and weather conditions. After being promoted to Lieutenant
in 1846, Worden saw extensive sea duty, largely within the Pacific
Squadron.
In 1861, Worden was arrested by Confederate
authorities in Montgomery, Alabama, after delivering secret
orders to the Federal fleet at Fort Pickens. He was imprisoned
in Montgomery for seven months until Mrs. Worden, with help
from various naval officers, obtained his release through an
exchange of prisoners.
On January 11, 1862, Worden was offered
the command of the new ironclad Monitor being built by
John Ericsson. Commodore Joseph Smith told Worden, "This vessel
is an experiment. I believe you are the right sort of officer
to put in command of her." On January 16, 1862, Worden reported
to duty on the Monitor. As commander, Worden was in charge
of mounting the ship's ordnance and assembling a crew. The Monitor
left for Hampton Roads on March 6, 1862.
During the battle with the CSS Virginia
on March 9, 1862, Worden stationed himself in the Monitor's
pilot house. As he peered through the steering ports, a shell
from the Virginia hit the pilot house. The explosion
drove powder residue and metal fragments into Worden's face
and eyes, severely wounding and temporarily blinding him. Command
of the Monitor then passed to the Monitor's Executive
Officer, Lieutenant Dana Greene. Worden was the only member
of the crew of the Monitor to be wounded in the battle.
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USS
Montauk
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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In October 1862 Worden recovered his
sight and was again placed in command of a monitor, the USS
Montauk. While in command of the Montauk he took
part in action against Fort McAllister at Port Royal, the destruction
of the CSS Nashville, and the naval assault on Fort Sumter.
Following the action at Fort Sumter, Worden was relieved of
sea command and served the remainder of the war overseeing construction
of ironclads in New York.
Following the war, Worden served as
superintendent of the Naval Academy from 1869 to 1872. He retired
from the navy in 1886 as a Rear Admiral after 52 years of naval
service. He died in 1897.
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Go to Main Category:
Life on the Monitor
Go to other documents in this category:
Daily Life of a Monitor Crewman -
George Geer
Photo Identification of the
Officers of the Monitor, July 1862
Biographies of the Crew of the Monitor
Photo Identification of the
Crew of the Monitor, July 1862
Photo Identification of the Monitor,
July 1862
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