The second USS ''Portsmouth'' was a wooden
sloop-of-war in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in service during the mid-to-late 19th century. She was designed by
Josiah Barker on the lines of a French-built
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
, and built at the
Portsmouth Navy Yard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...
, directly across the
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...
from
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was described as an improvement over built in the same shipyard a year earlier. ''Portsmouth'' was launched on 23 October 1843 and commissioned on 10 November 1844, with Commander
John Berrien Montgomery in command.
Service history
Mexican–American War, 1845–1848
''Portsmouth'' had an important role during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
, seizing the port of
Yerba Buena
Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. ''Yerba buena'' translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as ''yerba buena'' varies from region to regi ...
(today's
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
) from Mexico. She had set sail on 25 January 1845 from
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, on a cruise around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
to join the
Pacific Squadron
The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval s ...
under the command of Commodore
John D. Sloat. En route, she made stops in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
,
Valparaiso,
Callao, the
Sandwich Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Ku ...
, and
Acapulco. Upon arriving off the
Departamento de Las Californias coast, with Lieutenant
Benjamin F. B. Hunter as her Sailing Master, she was initially engaged in watching the movements of British vessels there to prevent the possibility of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
acquiring the region during any conflict between the U.S. and Mexico.
After the declaration of war with Mexico, a detachment of
Marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
under the command of Second Lieutenant
Henry Bulls Watson rowed ashore on 9 July 1846, marched to the pueblo's main plaza, and raised the American flag, thereby seizing the city. Renamed
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most densel ...
, the site is located in modern
Chinatown. In the square there is a US Flag flown from a flagpole and a commemorative plaque set by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
''Portsmouth'' remained in
San Francisco Bay until November 1846, when she was sent to
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
. During 1847, under the command of Montgomery, she was assigned to blockade Mexico's west coast, arriving with USS ''Congress'' and USS ''Argo'' at Guaymas on 17 October. After a request to surrender was rejected the ships began a bombardment of the city, lasting an hour. After the town surrendered a garrison was sent ashore and occupied the city. Her duty completed by early 1848, she got underway for the cruise back to the U.S. east coast on the morning of 3 January.
West Africa, 1848–1851
Returning to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
in May 1848 she departed again on 29 August and sailed east to the
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n coast. There until 1 February 1849 she patrolled with
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
ships to suppress the slave trade. Between September 1849 and May 1851 she again cruised off the West African coast, returning to Boston on 26 June.
Pacific, Africa, 1851–1861
Six months later ''Portsmouth'' left Boston for duty in the Pacific. On 5 April 1855 she returned to the east coast for overhaul at
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, and on 3 May 1856 got underway for the Pacific again. Under Commander
Andrew H. Foote
Andrew Hull Foote (September 12, 1806 – June 26, 1863) was an American naval officer who was noted for his service in the American Civil War and also for his contributions to several naval reforms in the years prior to the war. When the war cam ...
she reached
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
94 days later, whence she sailed to
China. There she participated in the engagement with the
Barrier Forts of
Canton on 16–22 November 1856. Ordered home in January 1858, she returned to
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and remained there until sailing for Africa again for a three-year tour, 1859–1861.
Civil War, 1861–1865
![USS Portsmouth-Full Sail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/USS_Portsmouth-Full_Sail.jpg)
Following the onset of the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, ''Portsmouth'' home-ported and refitted between September and December 1861, then sailed for the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
and duty with the
Gulf Blockading Squadron
The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading.
The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...
. By the end of February 1862 she had captured two blockade runners off
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. In April she participated in operations against
Forts Jackson and
St. Philip, then from May 1862 to August 1865 operated as
station ship
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
at
.
South America, Pacific, 1865–1878
Continuing her varied career after peace was restored, ''Portsmouth'' served as
quarantine vessel at New York, 1866–67; cruised off
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and Africa, 1869–71; carried relief personnel to Brazil in early 1872; and participated in survey assignments in the eastern Pacific, 1873–74. This included a stop at the
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll (), also referred to as Palmyra Island, is one of the Northern Line Islands (southeast of Kingman Reef and north of Kiribati). It is located almost due south of the Hawaiian Islands, roughly one-third of the way between Hawaii a ...
for several days, arriving there on December 11, 1873. Ship's surgeon William H. Jones performed a survey of the animal and plant life, as well as creating a detailed map of the atoll's islets and lagoons. In 1875 she conducted a cruise off the west coast of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
and on 14 July 1878 was decommissioned as a
cruiser and assigned as a training ship for boys. On 25 July 1876 at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Boatswain's Mate
Alexander Parker attempted to rescue a shipmate from drowning, for which he was later awarded a
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
.
Training ship, 1878–1915
In 1878 ''Portsmouth'' returned to the east coast, arriving at
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
on 16 February. In March she sailed to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, returning in December to resume training ship duties on 17 January 1895, first with naval apprentices, then with the
New Jersey Naval Militia, until March 1911. Three of her crewman earned the Medal of Honor during this period for jumping overboard to rescue fellow sailors: Boatswain's Mate
Francis Moore on 23 January 1882,
[ Medal of Honor Recipients, 2010] and Seaman
Henry C. Courtney and Boatswain's Mate
Thomas Cramen on 7 February 1882. ''Portsmouth'' was then loaned to the
Public Health Service
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
, Quarantine Station, Charleston, South Carolina to serve as a boarding launch. She was struck from the
Navy List
A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...
on 17 April 1915 and subsequently sold.
''Portsmouth'' was taken to
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...
,
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States.
History
...
, and burned on the night of September 6–7, 1915, the culmination of a South Boston carnival. The event was well attended by politicians and others, and a fireboat siren shrieked a salute as flames poured out of her empty gun ports.
Bank of America logo
![Bank-of-america-service-pin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Bank-of-america-service-pin.jpg)
The Portsmouth was adopted as the logo for the San Francisco-founded
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
by its founder,
Amadeo Giannini
Amadeo Pietro Giannini (), also known as Amadeo Peter Giannini or A. P. Giannini (May 6, 1870 – June 3, 1949) was an American banker who founded the Bank of Italy, which became Bank of America. Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern ...
, in recognition of the ship's role in securing the city. Service pins issued to employees by the bank not only feature the ship's image, but include its name inscribed beneat
![USS Portsmouth Double Helm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/USS_Portsmouth_Double_Helm.jpg)
The ship's helm was removed during decommissioning and was on display in the headquarter's reception area in 1995.
Hoboken Civil War Memorial
''Portsmouth'' served in the
New Jersey Naval Militia in the early 1900s. Two Dahlgren guns from her are part of the Hoboken Civil War Memorial located at Stevens Park in
Hoboken, New Jersey, Hoboken
See also
*
Bibliography of early American naval history
Historical accounts for early U.S. naval history now occur across the spectrum of two and more centuries. This Bibliography lends itself primarily to reliable sources covering early U.S. naval history beginning around the American Revolution per ...
*
Union Navy
The Union Navy was the United States Navy (USN) during the American Civil War, when it fought the Confederate States Navy (CSN). The term is sometimes used carelessly to include vessels of war used on the rivers of the interior while they were un ...
References
Sources
*Downey, Joseph T., Ordinary Seaman,
USN
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
; Edited by Lamar, Howard. (1963-Reissued). ''The Cruise of the Portsmouth, 1845-1847, A Sailor's View of the Naval
Conquest of California.'' Yale University Press.
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portsmouth (1843), USS
Sloops of the United States Navy
Ships built in Kittery, Maine
Mexican–American War ships of the United States
Ships of the Union Navy
Gunboats of the United States Navy
American Civil War patrol vessels of the United States
New Hampshire in the American Civil War
1843 ships
Shipwrecks of the Massachusetts coast
Second Opium War