steamers) at significantly higher pay. To overcome this quandary, a Naval Retiring Board was formed which upset the older officers but cheered younger members of the service. He took command of April 23, 1860, and sailed to Hong Kong as a unit of the East India Squadron for Commodore Cornelius Stribling. However, after the onset of the Civil War, both Radford and Stribling were relieved of their commands and ordered to return Washington, D.C. despite their declarations of allegiance to the Union. Commodore Samuel Du Pont in Washington, D.C. explained to Radford's wife Mary that, with the number of defections from both the Army and Navy, all officers from slave states must be evaluated for risk. Radford arrived home October 12, 1861, seriously ill with smallpox but recovered quickly. After an interview with Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, he was reappointed Inspector of the Third Lighthouse District at New York. Civil War On February 8, 1862, Radford accepted command of . He was aboard as a member of a Naval Board of Inquiry March 8, 1862, when his ship was sunk by the Confederate ram during the Battle of Hampton Roads. A Naval Board convened in April 1862 at the Naval Academy Preparatory School with Radford as a member. He received, June 10, 1862, temporary duty as Executive Officer of Brooklyn Navy Yard under command of Rear Admiral Hiram Paulding. The assignment stretched into almost two years of equipping and fitting-out hundreds of vessels for the Navy. Radford received promotion to captain July 16, 1862, and then to commodore April 24, 1863. On May 15, 1864, Radford was directed to report to Rear Admiral John Dahlgren at Philadelphia for command of the armored ship . Upon arrival it was determined the ship required repairs so Radford was relieved and ordered to a Naval Board in Washington, D.C. during July 1864. He was recommitted to New Ironsides on August 16, 1864, and joined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron at Hampton Roads. Rear Admiral David Porter assembled a fleet to attack Fort Fisher for the control of Cape Fear River. He placed Radford in command of the Ironclad Division, consisting of flagship New Ironsides, , , , and during attacks on Fort Fisher in December 1864 and in January 1865. David Porter commended Radford's support for the Union forces ashore and eight members of his crew were awarded the Medal of