Samuel Dana Greene

author

Samuel Dana Greene

1839–1884

Best remembered for his service aboard the USS Monitor during the Civil War, he turned firsthand experience in one of the war’s most famous naval battles into writing that still draws historical interest. His career combined active duty at sea with later service connected to the U.S. Naval Academy.

1 Audiobook

The Monitor and the Merrimac : $b Both sides of the story

The Monitor and the Merrimac : $b Both sides of the story

by John Lorimer Worden, Samuel Dana Greene, H. Ashton Ramsay, Eugene Winslow Watson

About the author

Born in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1839, Samuel Dana Greene became a United States Navy officer and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1859. He is most closely associated with the ironclad USS Monitor, where he served as executive officer during the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862 and took command after John L. Worden was wounded.

After surviving the loss of the Monitor later that year, Greene continued his naval career in a series of postings. Sources also connect him with later work at the U.S. Naval Academy, and his name remained linked to Monitor history through his published account of the famous clash with the Merrimack/Virginia.

He died in 1884. Though not widely known today outside naval history, his memoir-like writing and wartime service make him an appealing figure for readers interested in eyewitness accounts of the Civil War at sea.