A, an umurci Radford ya ba da rahoto ga Rear Admiral John Dahlgren a Philadelphia don umurnin jirgin ruwa. Bayan isowa an ƙaddara cewa jirgin yana buƙatar gyare-gyare don haka Radford ya sauke shi kuma ya umurce shi zuwa Hukumar Naval a Washington, DC a watan Yuli 1864. An sake sanya shi zuwa "New Ironsides" a kan, kuma ya shiga Arewacin Atlantic Blockading Squadron a Hampton Roads. Rear Admiral David Porter ya tattara rundunar jiragen ruwa don kai farmaki Fort Fisher don kula da Cape Fear River. Ya sanya Radford a matsayin kwamandan Rundunar Ironclad, wanda ya kunshi jirgin ruwa mai suna "New Ironsides",,,, kuma a lokacin
hare-haren da aka kai a kan Fort Fisher a watan Disamba na shekara ta 1864 da kuma Janairu 1865. David Porter ya yaba da goyon bayan Radford ga dakarun Union a bakin teku kuma an ba wa 'yan uwansa takwas lambar yabo.