John Lorimer Worden | |
---|---|
Born |
Mount Pleasant, New York |
March 12, 1818
Died | December 19, 1897 Washington, D.C. |
(aged 79)
Place of burial | Pawling, New York |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/branch |
United States Navy Union Navy |
Years of service | 1834–1886 |
Rank | Rear Admiral |
Commands held |
USS Monitor USS Montauk United States Naval Academy European Squadron |
Battles/wars |
Mexican–American War American Civil War |
John Lorimer Worden (March 12, 1818 – October 19, 1897) was a U.S. Navy officer in the American Civil War, who took part in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first-ever engagement between ironclad steamships at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 9 March 1862.
Commanding the Union’s only warship of this class, USS Monitor, Worden challenged the Confederate vessel Virginia, a converted steam-frigate that had sunk a Union blockader and damaged two others. After a four-hour battle, both ships withdrew, unable to pierce the other’s armour.
Worden was born in Scarborough, New York. He grew up in Swartwoutville, Dutchess County, 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 January 10, 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 he reported 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.