Stolen Worden Sword Goes Back To Annapolis
By Deborah Fitts
Feb./March 2004
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A sword belonging to the captain
of the USS Monitor that was stolen from the Naval Academy in
1931 was returned in January after nearly three-quarters of
a century.
The sword, trimmed with gold and silver, was presented by the
State of New York in 1862 to John Worden, commander of the Monitor,
for his part in the ironclad's battle with the Confederate warship
Virginia, formerly the Merrimack. The sword was made by Tiffany
& Co. in New York.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman, who attended the Jan.
12 return ceremony at the academy museum, called the sword "a
magnificent piece." The sword belt was also returned.
Also present to make the return was Jeffrey Lampinski, head
of the Philadelphia office of the FBI. The sword was recovered
thanks to an FBI investigation by the Art Theft Task Force in
Philadelphia. An FBI statement said the sword "is thought
to be one of the finest naval presentation swords ever made."
Worden was superintendent of the Naval Academy from 1868 to
1873. He died in 1897. His family donated the sword to the academy
museum in 1912.
The sword was stolen from a display case at the academy and
for several decades was in the possession of a family who Goldman
said would remain unidentified. In 1998 it was purchased by
the American Ordnance Preservation Association, whose principals
Russ Pritchard III and George Juno then sold it to a collector.
Goldman's prosecution of a fraud case against Pritchard and
Juno led to the discovery of the sword. The collector, who Goldman
said was unaware that the sword was stolen, cooperated in its
return to the academy.
Goldman added that there was also "no indication"
that Pritchard and Juno knew that the sword was stolen. Goldman
put its value at "close to $700,000."
Lampinski said that in recent years the FBI had recovered millions
of dollars worth of stolen "cultural property."
"Each of these pieces has an important place in history,"
Lampinski said in a written statement. "Although many of these items
belong in museums, they really belong to each one of us. They are a part
of history and our heritage."
