author
John Lorimer Worden
1818–1897
Best remembered for commanding the USS Monitor in its historic clash with the Confederate Virginia, this U.S. Navy officer stood at the center of one of the Civil War’s most famous naval turning points. His long career also included service in the Mexican-American War, captivity early in the Civil War, and later leadership at the Naval Academy and in the European Squadron.
1 Audiobook
The Monitor and the Merrimac : Both sides of the story
by John Lorimer Worden, Samuel Dana Greene, H. Ashton Ramsay, Eugene Winslow Watson
About the author
Born in Westchester County, New York, on March 12, 1818, John Lorimer Worden entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1834. Before the Civil War, he served in several squadrons, worked at the Naval Observatory in Washington, and saw action during the Mexican-American War.
Worden is most famous for commanding the ironclad USS Monitor at the Battle of Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862, in the first battle between ironclad warships. During the fight with the Confederate Virginia, he was injured when enemy fire struck the pilot house, but his role in the battle made him one of the best-known naval officers of the war.
He later served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and commanded the European Squadron, eventually reaching the rank of rear admiral. He died in Washington, D.C., on October 18, 1897, and is remembered as a key figure in the Navy’s shift into the ironclad age.