The first USS ''Porpoise'' was a topsail

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

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 ...

. ''Porpoise'' was built in 1820 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 continuou ...

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals. The southernmost town in t ...

. The schooners , , and were her sister ships. She first cruised in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

in 1821–1823,

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

James Ramage in command, hunting

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s. Cruising the West African coast in 1824–25, the schooner engaged in the suppression of the

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

trade. Late in 1825 she returned to the United States and, under

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Foxhall A. Parker, Sr. Foxhall Alexander Parker Sr. (1788 – 23 November 1857) was an officer in the United States Navy. He was Commander-in-Chief of the East India Squadron (ie. U.S. Navy forces in the Far East), commanded the Home Squadron, and was commander of ...

, cruised off the northeast coast of the United States. ''Porpoise'' cruised the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

from 1826 until 1830 under the command of Lts.

Benjamin Cooper Benjamin Cooper was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1624. Cooper was probably the son of Benjamin Cooper. He was admitted at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on 16 May 1612. He was an alderman of Yarmouth. In 16 ...

, John H. Bell, and Thomas M. Newell successively. Returning to the West Indies in 1830, she sailed under Lts.

John Percival John Percival (3 April 1779 – 7 September 1862), known as Mad Jack Percival, was a celebrated officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812, the campaign against West Indies pirates, and the Mexican–Amer ...

, James Armstrong, and

James McIntosh James, Jamie, Jim or Jimmy McIntosh may refer to: * James Mackintosh (percussionist), Scottish percussionist and drummer * James M. McIntosh (1828–1862), Confederate Army general * James McIntosh (Medal of Honor) (1829–1908), American Medal o ...

. While cruising in the West Indies in 1833 under the command of Lt. William Taylor, ''Porpoise'' was wrecked on a reef off Point Lizardo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porpoise (1820) Schooners of the United States Navy Ships built in Kittery, Maine Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea 1820 ships Maritime incidents in 1833