John Lorimer Worden
United States Navy admiral
John Lorimer Worden (March 12, 1818 – October 18, 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 March 9, 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 two Union blockaders and damaged two others. After a four-hour battle, both ships withdrew, unable to pierce the other's armour.
Background and early career
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.
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.
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