Toward the close of the action, the Confederate ironclad inflicted its last and most significant casualty, the Monitor’s skipper John Worden.  LT S. Dana Green, the Monitor’s executive officer described the event:

“Soon, after noon, a shell from the enemy’s gun, the muzzle not ten yards distant, struck the forward side of the pilot house directly in the sight hole or slit and exploded, cracking the second iron log and partly lifting the top, leaving an opening.  Worden was standing immediately behind this spot and received in his face the force of the blow which partly stunned him and filling his eyes with powder, utterly blinded him...

“[Sent for], I found him standing at the foot of the ladder leading to the pilot house.  He was a ghastly sight with his eyes closed and the blood apparently rushing from every pore in the upper part of his face.