overhaul. Her masts and rigging were replaced and most of the ship's crew with time remaining on their enlistments were transferred to other ships in the squadron. The ship arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 24 June and was decommissioned six days later to begin her refit. New Ironsides completed her overhaul in late August 1864, now under the command of Commodore William Radford, but did not join the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Hampton Roads until October when her crew finished gunnery training. She participated in a major assault in December on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in an effort to stop blockade running into the port of Wilmington. Though this attack was called off on Christmas Day after an extensive bombardment, the Union fleet returned to resume the operation on 13 January 1865. New Ironsides was one of several warships that heavily shelled Fort Fisher, preparing the way for a ground assault that captured the position on 15 January. Afterward and for the next few months, New Ironsides supported Union activities on the James River. She was decommissioned on 6 April 1865 and was laid up at League Island, Philadelphia, where, on the night of 16 December 1865, New Ironsides was destroyed by a fire. The ship was towed to shallow water where she burned and sank. Her wreck was salvaged and her boilers were offered for sale in 1869. Medals of Honor The following crewmen of the New Ironsides were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher: James Barnum, Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy John Dempster, Coxswain, U.S. Navy Thomas English, Signal Quartermaster, U.S. Navy Edmund Haffee, Quarter Gunner, U.S. Navy Nicholas Lear, Quartermaster, U.S. Navy Daniel Milliken, Quarter Gunner, U.S. Navy Joseph White, Coxswain, U.S. Navy Richard Willis, Coxswain, U.S. Navy Notes Footnotes References American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States Ironclad warships of the Union Navy Steamships of the United States Navy Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1862 ships Ship fires Shipwrecks of the Pennsylvania coast Maritime incidents in December 1865