The West India Squadron, assembled in April 1822 under Commodore James Biddle to combat piracy. Though not specifially identified in this 1824 oil painting by John Christian Schetky, the USS Porpoise was one of the 14 ships in the squadron.
Courtesy of the National Museum of American History
The West India Squadron, assembled in April 1822 under Commodore James Biddle to combat piracy. Though not specifially identified in this 1824 oil painting by John Christian Schetky, the USS Porpoise was one of the 14 ships in the squadron.
Courtesy of the National Museum of American History
LIEUTENANT Commandant John Porter’s vessel, the brig USS Boxer, was shipwrecked in the South Pass channel of the Mississippi River on Oct. 24, 1817. He was 24 years old, and this was his first time serving as captain of a ship.
The loss of the Boxer was a disappointment, but a knowledgeable witness praised the behavior of the crew, and by inference, the captain. A U.S. Army major named Kirby, who had been a passenger on the Boxer, published an account of the event in the Richmond (Virginia) Enquirer newspaper on Dec. 16, 1817. He stated, “From the moment this misfortune occurred the crew were remarkably active and zealous in the performance of their duty—and gave evidence of the discipline and subordination to which they had been accustomed.”
Porter’s misfortune prompted an official review. According to an item in the Charleston (South Carolina) Courier newspaper on Feb. 18, 1818, “U.S. brig Boxer – The Court of enquiry, appointed to enquire into the loss of this vessel, have decided that no blame can be attached to Lt. Cmdr. John Porter, or to either his officers or crew in consequence of the loss of said brig. The decision has been approved by the Secretary of the Navy.”
In 1818 and 1819 Porter served on shore duty at the Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia. The facility was located on the Anacostia River a short distance from where it joins the Potomac River. It is unclear where Porter’s wife, Eliza, and the couple’s little daughter, Lucia, had been living while he was in command of the Boxer, but they likely joined him in D.C. in 1818.
It appears that the family lived in a rented house in the Alexandria section of the D.C. (now, Alexandria, Virginia). In early October 1819 Porter placed an ad in the Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser newspaper stating that the house was available for rent until April 1, 1820. He was likely aware that he would be leaving D.C. soon, and was hoping to sublet the house to fulfill the terms of his lease. The ad includes these interesting details, “The garden is under good cultivation, and well stocked with autumnal and winter vegetables. The terms will be moderate.”
In 1820 Porter was transferred to the Portsmouth Navy Yard, retaining the rank of Lt. Cmdr. He had previously been stationed there in 1813 and 1814 when he was serving as a junior officer on board a ship that was being repaired at the yard.
This shipbuilding and repair facility (now the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard) was established in 1800 on Seavey’s Island in Kittery Maine, located across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth. According to the official history of the Portsmouth Navy Yard published in 1892, in 1820 Porter was one of three lieutenants serving under the yard’s overall commander, Captain Charles Morris.
A major project at the shipyard that year was the building of the U.S.S. Porpoise, a 177-ton, 14-gun schooner. According to the yard’s history, it was a vessel of “light draft and heavy armament” designed to fight pirate ships. The Porpoise was constructed largely by civilian workmen, including carpenters, blacksmiths, caulkers, joiners and masons.
The Porpoise was launched into Portsmouth Harbor on Dec. 2, 1820, and was fitted out over the next several weeks. In March and April 1821, the ship’s newly appointed captain, Lt. Cmdr. James Ramage, took the vessel on cruises in the area. On March 24 a commercial ship, the Argonaut, went aground on Gerrish Island in Maine, a short distance from the Navy Yard. The crew of the Porpoise and the shipyard’s staff came to its rescue, helping to save the cargo.
The Porpoise left the Portsmouth Navy Yard around May 9 and sailed south to Charleston, South Carolina. In the coming months the ship served in the West Indies, along the coast of West Africa, in the Mediterranean, and off the northeast coast of the United States.
This was the first U.S.S. Porpoise, but there would be at least six other vessels with that name in the U.S. Navy. One of these was a submarine built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1933, which was deployed in the Pacific during World War II.
Next week: Eliza Porter establishes a home for her growing family in Portsmouth, where she has close family ties.
