Patch image contributed by Mike Smolinski

Operational and Building Data
Keel laid on 19 SEP 1960 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, ME
Launched 02 JUN 1962
Commissioned 03 AUG 1963
Reclassified CG 18 30 JUN 1975
Decommissioned 01 OCT 1993
Stricken 01 OCT 1993
Fate: Sunk as target 17 JUN 2000
22° 57.1'N
160° 0.2'W
2560 fathoms.

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114k

19k

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John Lorimer Worden was born on 12 March 1818 in Westchester County, NY. He was appointed midshipman in the Navy on 10 January 1834. He served his first three years in the sloop-of-war Erie on the Brazilian Station. Following that, he was briefly assigned to the sloop Cyane before reporting to the Naval School at Philadelphia 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 War, he cruised the west coast, primarily in the store ship Southampton, but in other ships as well. In 1850, he returned to the Naval Observatory for another two-year tour of duty. The ensuing nine years were filled with sea duty which took Worden on several cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas. Brought to Washington early in 1861, he received orders in April to carry secret dispatches—regarding the reinforcement of Fort Pickens—south to the warships at Pensacola. During the return journey north, Worden was arrested near Montgomery, Ala., and was held prisoner until exchanged about seven months later. Though still ill as a result of his imprisonment, Comdr. Worden accepted orders to command the new ironclad Monitor on 16 January 1862. He reported to her building site at Greenpoint on Long Island and supervised her completion. He placed the new warship in commission at the New York Navy Yard on 25 February and two days later sailed for Hampton Roads. However, steering failure forced the ironclad back to New York for repairs. On 6 March, she headed south again, this time under tow by Seth Low. On the afternoon of 8 March, Worden's command approached Cane Henry, VA., while inside Hampton Roads, the Confederacy's own ironclad, CSS Virginia, wreaked havoc with the Union Navy's wooden blockading fleet. During that engagement, the Southern warship sank the sloop Cumberland and severely damaged Congress and Minnesota before retiring behind Sewell's Point. Arriving on the scene too late to participate in the engagement, Worden and his command set about assisting the grounded Minnesota. At daybreak on the 9th, Virginia emerged once more from behind Sewell's Point to complete her reduction of the Federal fleet at Hampton Roads. As the Confederate ironclad approached Minnesota, Worden maneuvered Monitor put from the grounded ship's shadow to engage Virginia in the battle that revolutionized naval warfare. For four hours, the two iron-plated ships slugged it out as they maneuvered in the narrow channel of Hampton Roads, pouring shot and shell at one another to almost no visible effect. Three hours into the slug fest, Worden received facial wounds when a Confederate shell exploded just outside the pilot house. He relinquished command to his first officer, Samuel D. Green. About an hour later, Monitor withdrew from the battle temporarily and, upon her return to the scene, found that Virginia, too, had withdrawn. The first battle between steam-driven, armored ships had ended in a draw. After the battle, Worden moved ashore to convalesce from his wounds. During that recuperative period, he received the accolade of a grateful nation and the official thanks of Congress. Late in 1862, he took command of the ironclad monitor Montauk and placed her in commission at New York on 14 December 1862. Later in the month, Worden took his new ship south to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Port Royal, SC. On 27 January 1863, he led his ship in the bombardment of Fort McAlister. A month later, newly promoted Capt. Worden took his ship into the Ogeechee River, found the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake (formerly CSS Nashville), and destroyed her with five well-placed shots. His last action came of 7 April 1863, when Montauk participated in an attack on Charleston, SC. Not long after the Charleston attack, Capt. Worden received orders to shore duty in conjunction with the construction of ironclads at New York. That assignment lasted until the late 1860's. In 1869, he began a five-year tour as Superintendent of the Naval Academy during which he was promoted to rear admiral. During the late 1870's, he commanded the European Squadron, visiting ports in northern Europe and patrolling theeastern Mediterranean during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He returned ashore and concluded his naval career as a member of the Examining Board and as President of the Retiring Board. When he retired on 23 December 1886, Congress voted him full sea pay in his grade for life. Rear Admiral Worden resided in Washington, D.C., until his death from pneumonia on 19 October 1897. After funeral services at Washington's St. John's Episcopal Church, he was buried at Pawling, NY.

1st Photo caption - Rear Admiral John L. Worden, USN, namesake of USS Worden, photographed in full dress uniform by F.M. Zuller, Richfield Springs, New York, and the U.S. Naval Academy, April 1873. Note his very fancy sword. - U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph #NH101.

Photo 2 & 3 from Brady-Handy Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). These photos appear to have been taken during the same sitting as the first one. - Library of Congress #LC-DIG-cwpbh-04058

Robert M. Cieri

Tom Kerman

Undated port side view

U.S. Navy photo

Starboard bow view while underway, date and location unknown.

U.S. Navy photo.

Starboard bow view while underway in the South China Sea, 25 January 1979.

NHHC photo #NH 106506.

Moored starboard side to Subic Bay Repair Facility, Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines.

Photo is attributed to FLTAVCENPAC CUBI PT taken by D.R. Sanner probably during her 1983 WestPac deployment. Caption corrected by Carl Blankenburg.

San Francisco, CA, 1 July 1986 - A port quarter view of the guided-missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) as she gets underway for a midshipmen's summer training cruise.

U.S. Navy photo #DN-ST-87-03023 by: PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

San Francisco Bay, 1 July 1986 - A tugboat follows the guided-missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) as it gets underway for a midshipmen's summer training cruise. Alcatraz Island is in the background.

U.S. Navy photo #DN-ST-87-03024 by: PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

Pacific Ocean, 1 July 1986 - The guided-missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) and the fleet oiler USS Willamette (AO 180) participate in an underway replenishment (UNREP), during a midshipmen's summer training cruise.

U.S. Navy photo #DN-ST-87-03014 by: PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

Mark 10 Mod 7 missile launcher and missile house for Terrier or RIM-67 Standard missiles aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18). The ship is participating in a midshipmen's summer training cruise, 1 July 1986.

US Navy Photo #DN-ST-87-03066 taken by PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

San Francisco Bay, 12 July 1986 - A port bow view of the guided-missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) returning to port. The ship had conducted a midshipmen's summer training cruise, in the Pacific.

U.S. Navy photo #DN-ST-87-03021 by: PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

Puget Sound, 1 August 1986 - Sailors man the rail of the guided-missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) as she arrives in Seattle after completing a midshipmen's summer training cruise, in July. The Seattle Space Needle is in the background.

U.S. Navy photo #DN-ST-87-03080 by: PH2 Michael D.P. Flynn.

11 December 1990 - A starboard view of the guided missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) underway during Operation Desert Shield.

U.S.Navy Photo.

11 December 1990 - A starboard view of the guided missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) underway during Operation Desert Shield.

U.S.Navy Photo.

1 June 1991 - The guided missile cruiser USS Worden (CG 18) approaches the entrance to the Pearl Harbor channel as an airliner departing Honolulu International Airport passes overhead.

U.S.Navy Photo.

Starboard beam view underway in the channel as it arrives at the Naval Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 1 June 1991.

U.S. Navy Photo taken by OS2 John Bouvia.

Two decommissioned Leahy class guided missile cruisers are moored in the Naval Ships Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, 4 June 2000. The inboard ship is the ex- Worden (CG 18). The Worden will be sunk on the 17th of June in a live fire missile shoot by units involved in Operation RIMPAC 2000.

Photo taken by Don S. Montgomery, USN (RET). Photo ID: DNSC0205646.