Porter I (Torpedo Boat No. 6)
1897-1912
Named for Commodore David Porter (1780-1843) and his son, Adm. David Dixon Porter (1813-1891).
David Porter, born on 1 February 1780 at Boston, Mass., served in the Quasi War with France first as midshipman on board the frigate Constellation, participating in the capture of L’Insurgente on 9 February 1799; secondly, as first lieutenant of Experiment and later in command of Amphitrite. During the Barbary Wars (1801–07) Porter was first lieutenant of Enterprise, New York and Philadelphia and was taken prisoner when Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor on 31 October 1803. After his release on 3 June 1805 he remained in the Mediterranean as acting captain of the frigate Constitution and later commanding officer of Enterprise. He was in charge of the naval forces at New Orleans (1808–10).
As commanding officer of the frigate Essex in the War of 1812, Capt. Porter achieved fame by capturing the first British warship of the conflict, Alert, on 13 August 1812 as well as several merchantmen. In 1813, he took Essex around Cape Horn and cruised the Pacific, crippling British commerce. On 28 March 1814, Porter was forced to surrender off Valparaiso, Chile, after an unequal contest with the British frigates HBMS Phoebe and Cherub and only when his ship was too disabled to offer any resistance longer, “the contest having been unequal in every way.”. From 1815 to 1822 he was a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners but gave up this post to command the expedition for suppressing piracy in the West Indies (1823–25). Commodore Porter resigned his commission in 1826 and became the commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy 1826–29. Ultimately, he died on 3 March 1843 while U.S. Minister to Turkey.
His son, David Dixon Porter, born in Chester, Pa., on 8 June 1813, served in the Mediterranean as a midshipman on board the frigate Constellation (1829–31), United States and Delaware (1832–34), and as a lieutenant on board Congress (1842–45). During the Mexican War he was attached to the Home Squadron in Spitfire and was present at the two attacks on Vera Cruz. Porter served with distinction in the Civil War, rising from lieutenant to rear admiral in two years.
In April 1861 he reinforced Fort Pickens, Fla. in Powhatan and remained off the Florida coast until December. He then assumed command of the Mortar Flotilla under Farragut with the rank of commander and took Forts Jackson and St. Philip, April 1862, in the New Orleans campaign. He served with the flotilla until July 1862, cooperating with Farragut in his operations on the Mississippi from New Orleans to Vicksburg. While commanding the Mississippi Squadron as acting rear admiral from October 1862 to September 1864, Porter assisted Sherman in the capture of Arkansas Post (January 1863), bombarded the Grand Gulf batteries (May 1863), rendered invaluable aid to Grant in the reduction of Vicksburg (June–July 1863), and gained control of the Western Rivers during four expeditions in late 1863. He was next ordered to command the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and led the two attacks on Fort Fisher, N.C., 24 December 1864 and 13 January 1865, when the works were carried.
For his Civil War service, Porter received, on four occasions, votes of thanks from Congress and was promoted to vice admiral in 1866. He was Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 1866 to 1869. Appointed Admiral of the Navy in 1870, he became the senior ranking officer of the service. From 1877 until his death on13 February 1891 he served as Head of the Board of Inspection at Washington, D.C.
I
(Torpedo Boat No. 6: displacement 165 (normal); length 175’6” (overall); beam 17’9” (extreme); draft 4’8” (mean); speed 27.5 knots (designed); complement 24; armament 4 1-pounders; 3 18-inch torpedo tubes; class Porter)
The first Porter (Torpedo Boat No. 6) was laid down in February 1896 at Bristol, R.I., by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.: launched on 9 September 1896; sponsored by Miss Agnes M. Herreshoff, daughter of Nathaniel G. Herreshoff, Porter’s designer; and commissioned on 20 February 1897 at Newport, R.I., Lt. John C. Fremont in command.
Porter sailed to Washington, D.C. on 27 February 1897 for inspection and was further examined 16–20 March at New York by the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. She operated between New London, Conn., and Newport; then visited New York City from 15 July to 3 October before getting underway for her winter port, Charleston, S.C. Porter cruised in southern waters until 8 December and then proceeded to Key West, Florida, where she was stationed 1–22 January 1898.
Porter arrived at Mobile, Alabama, on 26 January 1898 for a port visit but soon received orders to return to Key West on 6 March because of the tense situation in Cuba. When the United States declared war upon Spain, she was already patrolling the waters off Key West and the Dry Tortugas. Porter returned to Key West on 22 March for replenishment.
Porter cleared Key West on 22 April 1898 with the North Atlantic Fleet for the blockade of the north coast of Cuba. She soon made contact with the enemy, capturing the Spanish schooners Sofia and Matilda, 23–24 April. After refueling at Key West (2–7 May), Porter resumed blockade duty off Cape Haitien, Haiti, keeping a watchful eye out for Rear-Adm. Pascual Cervera y Topete’s squadron. She participated in the three-hour bombardment of San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12–13 May, with the nine ships of Rear-Adm. William. T. Sampson’s squadron. During the attack, Porter, having brought orders for Detroit (Cruiser No. 10) to precede the flagship New York (Armored Cruiser No. 3), standing toward San Juan, taking soundings as she went, maintained a close position under the batteries but was not hit.
Porter returned 13–14 May 1898 to the blockade of the north coast of Hispaniola, cruising off Samana Bay, Santo Domingo and off Porto Plata, Haiti. After a brief interval at Key West and Mobile (18–25 May), she joined Commodore Winfield Scott Schley’s squadron (1–11 June) off Santiago de Cuba where it had bottled up the elusive Spanish warships. Porter came under heavy fire on 7 June while silencing the shore batteries but was undamaged. Later, she supported (11–17 June) the landing of the First Marine Battalion (Lt. Col. Robert W. Huntington, USMC) at Guantanamo Bay to establish a coaling base to resupply the fleet in sheltered waters. Porter took up her station off Santiago on 17 June and again, 21–22 June, when she bombarded the Socapa battery during the landings at Daiquiri. She continued patrolling off Guantnamo until 9 July when she left for New York via Key West.
Upon her arrival at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 19 July 1898, Porter was placed in reduced commission. Lt. James C. Gillmore relieved Lt. Fremont on 1 September 1898; and the torpedo boat was decommissioned on 5 November 1898. She was recommissioned on 10 October 1899 at New York and served as a training ship for firemen at Newport, Norfolk, Va., and Annapolis, Md. Porter was decommissioned on 21 December 1900 at New York. She was put in reserve commission in late 1901 at Norfolk with the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla and continued this duty through 1907.
Porter was recommissioned on 31 January 1908 at Norfolk, Lt. Willis G. Mitchell in command, and was ordered to Pensacola, Florida, on 21 February. As flagship of the Third Torpedo Flotilla, she engaged in torpedo runs in St. Joseph’s Bay, Fla. (4 March–22 April). Porter acted as naval escort to the remains of Governor De Witt Clinton in New York harbor on 29 May 1908 before returning on 1 July to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk.
Porter was recommissioned on 14 May 1909 at Charleston, S.C., Lt. Harold R. Stark in command, and was assigned to the 3rd Division, Atlantic Torpedo Flotilla. She proceeded to Provincetown, Mass., on 10 June for fleet exercises that lasted until 5 August. Porter departed on 28 August for Hampton Roads and the Southern Drill Grounds, later joining the fleet at New York for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration (1–10 October). She was reassigned on 14 November to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Charleston where she remained until October 1911.
Porter sailed on 30 October 1911 for New York where she took part in the fleet naval review on 2 November for President Theodore Roosevelt, who had ordered the mobilization “to test the preparedness of the fleet and the efficiency of our organization on the ships in the yards.” Afterwards, Porter returned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Philadelphia. She was mobilized in October 1912 for another review at New York which was inspected by the President on 15 October.
Stricken from the Navy Register 6 November 1912, Porter was sold to Andrew Olsen on 30 December 1912 at New York.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
10 September 2024
