Tunis Craven Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven ( 11 January 1813 – 5 August 1864 ) was an officer in the United States Navy . His career included service in the Mexican - American War and the American Civil War . Early life . Tunis Augustus Macdonough Craven was born in Portsmouth , N . H . , January 11 , 1813 . He was the youngest son of Tunis Craven , a Naval Storekeeper , stationed at the Portsmouth Yard , and his wife , Hannah Tingey , daughter of Commodore Thomas Tingey , a longtime commandant of the Washington Navy Yard . His brother , Thomas Tingey Craven would also join the navy , rising to the rank of rear admiral , while another brother , Alfred Wingate Craven ( 1810 – 1879 ) , became a noted civil engineer . In his youth he attended the Columbia College Grammar School in New York , his father having removed his family to Brooklyn , when ordered to duty in the New York Yard . February 2 , 1829 , Craven was appointed an acting midshipman from New York ( warranted November 18 , 1831 ) , and was attached to the and . U . S . Navy Service . Promoted to Passed Midshipman in September 1835 , he was on duty in connection with the Coast Survey almost continually until 1843 , nearly two years after his promotion to Lieutenant , in September 1841 . In 1838 he married Mary Carter , a member of one of the oldest and most influential families on Long Island , who died in 1843 , leaving three children . The same year Lieutenant Craven was ordered to the receiving ship at New York , where he remained until ordered to the in May , 1846 . In the meantime he had married again and removed from Brooklyn to Bound Brook , New Jersey . His second wife was Marie L . Stevenson , of Baltimore , Maryland , by whom he had three children . Craven served on the " Dale " during the Mexican – American War with the Pacific Squadron . He was given command of the chartered schooner " Libertad " in 1847 , patrolling the coast of Baja California Sur to intercept Mexican ships trying to bring men and military material to their army in the territory . In the Bombardment of Punta Sombrero , Craven engaged in a gun duel with a shore battery guarding the anchorage of Mulege . After his return from duty on the " Dale " he was employed on Coast Survey duty , with the exception of a year ( 1850 ) at the Naval Observatory , till 1859 . Most of this time he commanded the steamer , but in October 1857 , went in the " Varina " in command of the Atrato Expedition , which was for the purpose of surveying a route for a proposed ship canal through Isthmus of Darien ( now called Panama ) by way of the Atrato River . In 1859 Lieutenant Craven was ordered to the command of the steamer , Home Squadron , in which he captured two slavers ; in 1860 he saved the crew of the " Bella " , a foundering Spanish vessel , for which he was given a gold medal and diploma by Queen Isabella II . About the same time the New York Board of Underwriters presented Mrs . Craven with a handsome silver service for efficient services rendered to merchant vessels at sea by her husband . In 1861 Lieutenant Craven was ordered to command the , Home Squadron , but was shortly after promoted to Commander and ordered to command the , special service . The " Tuscarora " went to England with orders to report to the U . S . Minister , Mr . Adams . While in Southampton the Confederate steamer came in ; but upon her leaving , the " Tuscarora " was unable to follow until the expiration of 24 hours , when , giving up the chase , Commander Craven went to the Mediterranean , where he succeeded in watching the so closely that her officers and crew finally deserted the ship at Gibraltar . The " Tuscarora " was ordered home in 1863 , and Commander Craven was detached and ordered to command the , then building at Secor ' s yard , Jersey City . In the following spring the " Tecumseh " left New York and joined the squadron of Admiral Lee in the James River . Death at Battle of Mobile Bay . Shortly after , the " Tecumseh " was sent to join Admiral Farragut ' s fleet in the projected attack on Mobile . The position of Commander Craven in the attack , which took place August 5 , was at the head of the column of monitors which was on the starboard hand of the wooden vessels between them and Fort Morgan . Admiral Farragut in his reports states : " The attacking fleet steamed steadily up the main ship channel , the " Tecumseh " firing the first shot at forty - seven minutes past six o ' clock . At six minutes past seven the fort opened on us , and was replied to by a gun from the USS " Brooklyn " , and immediately after the action became general . It was soon apparent that there was some difficulty ahead . The , for some cause which I did not then clearly understand , but which has since been explained by Captain Alden in his report , arrested the advance of the whole fleet , while at the same time the guns of the fort were playing with great effect upon that vessel and the " Hartford " . A moment after I saw the " Tecumseh " , struck by a torpedo , disappear almost instantaneously beneath the waves , carrying with her her gallant commander and nearly all her crew . " The captain and the pilot were in the conning tower directly over the turret , whence there was no escape save through a narrow opening . Upon reaching this Commander Craven turned to the pilot and said , " You first , sir . " The pilot , John Collins , escaped , and , as he related , the vessel sank under him , carrying her crew of one hundred and sixteen in all , save himself and the few that were able to escape through the port holes . A buoy in Mobile Bay marks the spot where the " Tecumseh " lies . Tribute . The English poet Henry Newbolt immortalized Commander Tunis ' sacrifice in " Craven " ( from The Project Gutenberg EBook of Collected Poems 1897 - 1907 , by Henry Newbolt Craven Over the turret , shut in his iron - clad tower , Craven was conning his ship through smoke and flame ; Gun to gun he had battered the fort for an hour , Now was the time for a charge to end the game . There lay the narrowing channel , smooth and grim , A hundred deaths beneath it , and never a sign ; There lay the enemy ' s ships , and sink or swim The flag was flying , and he was head of the line . The fleet behind was jamming ; the monitor hung Beating the stream ; the roar for a moment hushed , Craven spoke to the pilot ; slow she swung ; Again he spoke , and right for the foe she rushed . Into the narrowing channel , between the shore And the sunk torpedoes lying in treacherous rank ; She turned but a yard too short ; a muffled roar , A mountainous wave , and she rolled , righted , and sank . Over the manhole , up in the iron - clad tower , Pilot and Captain met as they turned to fly : The hundredth part of a moment seemed an hour , For one could pass to be saved , and one must die . They stood like men in a dream : Craven spoke , Spoke as he lived and fought , with a Captain ' s pride , " After you , Pilot . " The pilot woke , Down the ladder he went , and Craven died . All men praise the deed and the manner , but we - - - We set it apart from the pride that stoops to the proud , The strength that is supple to serve the strong and free , The grace of the empty hands and promises loud : Sidney thirsting , a humbler need to slake , Nelson waiting his turn for the surgeon ' s hand , Lucas crushed with chains for a comrade ' s sake , Outram coveting right before command : These were paladins , these were Craven ' s peers , These with him shall be crowned in story and song , Crowned with the glitter of steel and the glimmer of tears , Princes of courtesy , merciful , proud , and strong . Namesakes . Three ships in the Navy have been named for him .