#USS Porter

[prohibitionpirates]

United States Coast Guard Cutter Porter (CG-7) circa 1924-30. This was formerly the U.S. Navy Tucker-class destroyer USS Porter (DD-59), one of 25 ex-Navy destroyers turned over to the Coast Guard in 1924 to enforce Prohibition and battle rumrunners. During her Coast Guard service, Porter captured the rum-running vessel Conseulo II (the former Louise) off the coast of Long Island. The destroyer was returned to the Navy in 1933 but scrapped in 1934 without being recommissioned.

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

so in an attempt to actually use positive thinking, anytime i fuck up and my brain reacts as if ive cause a minor apocalyptic event, i compare my fuck up to the 4 minute fuck up committed by the crew of the uss william d porter.

and only today, as i was having to explain what happened to my mom when i was explaining the whole comparison thing, did i realise that most people dont know about it and ive decided that needs to change because its objectively hilarious.

...which is a weird thing to say about an event that occured on a warship in 1943, specifically november 14th.

see the uss william d porter was a fletcher-class destroyer but you dont need to know what that means, just that she had guns that went bang bang and that she was escorting another ship, the uss iowa, to cairo.

while they were on their way there, they performed some gun trials like testing the anti-aircraft guns or the torpedos. and while they were running a torpedo drill, the crew of the porter managed to fire a live torpedo straight at the iowa which you know, in terms of a list of things to do while escorting a ship, shooting a torpedo at them is not on that list.

especially if the president of the united states is on board.

yeah so fdr was on board and the gun trials were actually his idea, and part of the trials was that they were conducted under radio silence.

and that means the crew of the porter couldnt just call the iowa to be like "move out the way, we accidentally shot a torpedo at you."

but they did have signal lamps and you know, the signalman on board was trained to signal this exact kind of message.

...and uh never mind, the signalman did manage to successfully tell the iowa that a torpedo was coming toward them but wasnt as successful when it came to the direction the torpedo was coming from.

not all hope is lost though because the signalman could still use the signal lamp to correct his previous mistake and-, never mind, he announced that the porter was reversing, which she wasnt.

yeah so at catastrophic mistake number 3, they broke radio silence to warn the iowa and she managed to turn out of the way just in time which meant no one got hurt. and even though the inquiry into the incident led to chief torpedoman (fantastic job title btw) lawton dawson being sentences to hard labour, fdr intervened and waved away his sentence, saying it was all an accident.

but yeah, so thats my new measure for "how much did i really fuck up?" and when i compared accidentally picking up a pencil case without a tag on it in wilko, turns out it was a very minor fuck-up. yes, the cashier had to ask another worker to grab a duplicate so they could scan the barcode, but i didnt nearly kill the president during wartime via accidental friendly fire

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

i was,,,,,, inspired .

[army-navy-air]

[ltwilliammowett]

Navigation Lantern (Port), by William Porter. Used aboard USS Monitor, 1862

Recovered in 1977, this lantern was discovered lying in the sand near USS Monitor's turret.

[diogxnxs]

Can we just talk about how snatched Donald's waistline actually is?

Our man has been serving in more ways than one during World War 2. But, it's no joke how popular he was during the time, dwarfing every other Disney character asked for. He pretty much embodied the every man that time, an ordinary guy who was only trying to do his best and came out as a hero.

Donald Duck is the true ass of America. On a side note, it's always been interesting that Donald's official military records has him enlisted in the Army and not Navy. Though we see him enlist in the navy in Ducktales 1987. As a bonus, here's a couple of Jose Cariocas during that time.

On the left is the art of Jose that was created for the USS-Escambia (AO-80) that was responsible for providing fuel in the Pacific, specifically in Philippine territories.

Here is a design created for a bomber attached to the 379th Bombardment Group, 527th Bombardment Squadron. On the right is the original pencil art created by Hank Porter. They actually expected Jose Carioca to be more popular than Donald during the time but no Disney character came close to the demand they had for the Duck. Some sources: Disney Insignia From World War II Bomber Unit Patch Joe Carioca USNS Escambia (T-AO-80) Escambia's Insignia - JOSE' CARIOCA

[9vvo]

Hey all, first post I'm going to do here.

I'm going to talk about the USS Indianola (pictured above), mainly because the story surrounding this could honestly be an idea for a potential sam o'nella video.

The USS Indianola was a casemate ironclad which served under the Union during the civil war. The ship was built by Joseph Brown of Cincinnati, OH for the US Government for $128,000 dollars at the time or about $4,000,000 adjusted for inflation.

By September 1, 1862 construction was nearly complete, however this would be halted when Union Forces under General Lew Wallace seized the unfinished ship the day after and would be launched on the fourth that month in order to defend Cincinnati from Confederate Forces. When the Threat ended on the 12th that month, the ship was returned for completion and would be officially commissioned later that month.

The thing would finally be completed on December of 1862, but the Ohio River's water levels were too low to cross the Falls of the Ohio. Eventually on January of 1863, she would join the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, IL.

During the Vicksburg Campaign, Union Navy Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter would order the USS Queen of the West (pictured below) down the Mississippi in order to intercept Confederate Shipping between Vicksburg, MS and Port Hudson, LA and would operate there until the 5th of February, 1863. Remember the Queen of the West as she becomes relevant later on.

The Queen of the West would later make a second trip and entered the Red River on February 14. Indianola would now be under the command of Union Navy Lieutenant Commander George Brown. Indianola would leave her moorings at the Yazoo the night before with two barges loaded with coal strapped onto her sides and steamed south under fire from the Vicksburg defenses. She would link up with Queen of the West in her operations down the river. After passing Confederate positions, she would anchor for the night and resumed sailing toward the south.

Indianola had been specifically chosen for this operation because her engines would allow her to reach a speed of 2 Knots (or 2.3mph/3.7kph) upstream against the current making it a lot faster than other ships under Porter's Command making her a better fit for escaping upriver if there were an emergency.

Queen of the West would disabled in a fight against Confederate Shore Defenses along the Red River and had to be abandoned. Her crew would make it to the Indianola on a captured packet steamer while being chased down by the Confederate Steamer CSS William H. Web.

Indianola would move against William H. Webb and would eventually spot her that afternoon. Indianola fired it's guns but William H. Webb was out of range and managed to escape into the fog. She would eventually hold a blockade of the junction of the Red and Mississippi, but withdrew on the 21st after learning William H. Webb, the captured and Repaired Queen of the West, and two steamers filled with Confederate soldiers were moving to attack her.

Indianola would be slowed by the two coal barges she was bringing and would be caught on the night of the 24th by Wiliam H. Webb and Queen of the West. Brown would face the Indianola toward the Confederate Ships and prepared for the inevitable fight by positioning the ship so that one of the coal barges were inbetween Indianola and the Confederate Ships.

She would fire her guns at the Confederate Ships, missing her shots. Queen of the West would ram Indianola on her left side and nearly smashed one of the barges in half. The William H. Webb would ram the Indianola Head-On immediately after with the William H. Webb also being damaged in the Collision.

Queen of the West would move upstream to build momentum and rammed the Starboard Side of Indianola, destroying one of the rudders and the Wheelhouse. The William H. Webb would perform a similar manuever, damaging the Indianola's Stern. Brown ordered the ship to fire, some say that the Indianola only scored a single hit on the Queen of the West which caused casualties but did basically no structural damage. Others say the Indianola scored two hits on the Queen of the West which one disabled cannons and also hit William H. Webb once.

At this point, the Indianola was barely functional and was sinking rapidly and Brown had the ship run aground to the Western Bank of the River and lowered the ship's flag. The Confederates were able to pull the ship over to the Eastern Bank which they held. Indianola would sink in 3 meters of water. During the fight, Indianola would be rammed seven times. All but one sailor onboard would survive the battle, but only three escaped the ship's capture to bring word to Porter. Brown and most of the Crew had been taken Prisoner.

The Confederates would dispatch a salvage crew to raise Indianola. The Union High-Ups knew if the Ship was repaired and added to the Confederate Navy like Queen of the West was, it would be disastrous for the Union Fleet on the Misssissippi and considerably harm the war effort.

Now, this is where it gets funny:

Porter did NOT have any ships available to send on the mission to destroy the Indianola before it fell into Confederate Hands, so he ordered the construction of an "Ironclad" in order to scare the Salvage Crew into abandoning the Wreck. This "Ironclad" would be made by lengthening an old Coal Barge with logs and adding a Casemate, Fake Cannons made out of Logs, and two smokestacks made out of Pork Barrels. The "Ironclad" would be given the name "Black Terror" and would be sent downstream on the 26th.

The Black Terror would pass the Vicksburg Defenses without any major damage and scared the Queen of the West into leaving the area of the wreck. The Salvage Crew (who were allegedly drunk at the time) threw the Indianola's 9-Inch Guns into the Missisippi and pointed the 11-Inch Guns at eachother muzzle-to-muzzle and fired them at eachother before burning what remained down to the Waterline.

On the 27th, the Confederates would realize the Black Terror wasn't an actual Ironclad Warship. Vicksburg would fall to Union Forces on July 4th and the Remains of Indianola's wreck were raised on January 5th of 1865 which were sold in Illinois on January 17th.

[judgemark45]

USS Porter, DDG 78, USS McFaul, DDG 74, USS Arleigh Burke, DDG 51, USS Cole, DDG 67, USS Cape St. George, CG 71, and USS Anzio, CG 68

[autisticlalna]

Something to Navigate By - a Navigator fanmix

[ listen on Spotify! ]

TRACKLIST: skye rocket - Sad Machine // i fight dragons - History Repeating // go! child - I.D. // pendulum - The Island, Pt, I (Dawn) | the queenstons - Just Hesitation (HES3 Edit) // fox stevenson - Dreamland // shirobon - On the Run // she - Nostalgic Vibes // tinlicker - Donderdag // USS - Hydrogenuine // fox stevenson - Radar // stacked like pancakes - Dreamcatcher // bastille - WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? // area 11 - ØCULIST // enter shikari - Redshift // everything everything - Don't Try - [Everything Everything Remix] // metric - Underline the Black // the mountain goats - Younger // enter shikari - Undercover Agents // porter robinson - Mirror // they might be giants - Let's Get This Over With

reasonings behind songs under the cut!

Sad Machine: "and though i know, since you awakened her again, she depends on you, she depends on you! she'll go alone, and never speak of this again, we depend on you, we depend on you [..] is anyone there? anyone else, anyone else, anyone else-" // this was the opening song on my Dominion Viking playlist! :D i will gladly take the opportunities to do musical callbacks.

History Repeating: "so then what to do when we know what's coming? stay and see it through, or start running? [..] over and over, i know i'm not alone here [..] don't say anything, i know where we've been, and i've got a feeling this is history repeating! when this crashes down i won't be around, 'cause i've got a feeling this is history repeating now!" // there's a time loop joke in here, obviously, what with "history repeating" being very literal. Navigator's involvement in all of this is... interesting? he's omniscient, he knows what's happening, but for once this isn't history repeating like it always has-- something has changed, and everyone needs to make a choice on what to do about it.

I.D.: "now everything inside of me is calling out "are you listening?" [..] i've been keeping this thought that if i spend all my time as what i'm not that i would find it in me to tell you to leave, but here you are and you won't [..] it hasn't been the same since you told me your name" // the way Navigator and Sapphire treat each other is. so much. i keep thinking about Nav telling Sapph he hates talking to them and that they won't speak again. theyre a mismatched pair that almost fit together, but not quite, and the more Sapphire spirals the less Navigator wants to do with her.

The Island / Just Hesitation (HES3 Edit): "what are you waiting for? as we go towards the light" // this is a weird one. Just Hesitation isn't on Spotify, so i had to sub in the song it samples from. which still works! but the intention is for it to be Just Hesitation. i wrote a whole ramble about it as a song and why it has Navigator vibes for me. thanks for coming to my ted talk

Dreamland: "does everybody live in a dreamland? is this dreamland all that we know? [..] i'm tired of feeling like i'll never serve a purpose! future killers, smoke and mirrors, yeah just be yourself! [..] searching the universe for something we can do, and living to fight another day! [..] I GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS WASTELAND, 'CAUSE THIS WASTELAND AIN'T HOME!" // i will readily admit that this is a targeted attack. this also is kinda pulling on my theory about where Navigator came from and what happened to him before TSMP.

On the Run: [instrumental] // this is a bop. also something something why are you running / what are you running from, although i guess right now we don't know if Navigator is running from (or to?) anything.

Nostalgic Vibes: "so many places i could be, sense of adventure got me beat, i've got it, you want me [..] mystery surrounds you, my love, don't just walk away! [..] let me recall for a while, you've got to set me free, yeah" // On the Run, Nostalgic Vibes, and Donderdag are in the segment i like to call "no thoughts just vibes". hope this helps.

Donderdag: [instrumental] // the thing with including instrumentals on these is it's really hard for me to explain why. there's no lyrics to point at and i'm not very articulate when it comes to explaining why instrumentals stand out to me. the vibes are there and it's a nice transition between Nostalgic Vibes and Hydrogenuine.

Hydrogenuine: "care to play a game? this experiment has chemically altered my brain! [..] 11 is the number i seem assigned to, inversions of an opposite truth aligns you, directions like the back of your hand will guide you, i am simply here to assist and remind you! i am simply here to assist and remind you!" // this was on the Viking & Ruby playlist for Navigator purposes and i'm bringing it back. the chorus is what really drives this for me and i cannot let it go. we need more Navigator and Ruby interactions please please please please please

Radar: "trouble on a radar, just gonna fly right under!" // this was a contender for a tViking song (before Navigator was even a thing) but got dropped from the playlist early on. i think it's fun to bring it back for Nav considering him being the warning sign and the thing with tViking going under the radar.

Dreamcatcher: "close my eyes and i'm predictable, i'm invincible, for you [..] i'm afraid i'm not enough. I'M NOT ENOUGH! [..] circles, cycles, why do you torture me? dreamcatcher, i'm falling but not asleep!" // shoutouts to Solar for saying the worlds "circles, cycles" in chat during a Sapphire lore scene and this entire song playing in my head at 2x speed.

WHAT YOU GONNA DO??? - "shiny on the surface, rotten on the inside [..] you got control, got my attention! make me tap and scroll, you got control, you got my attention! you got us listening, so what you gonna do, now what you gonna do with it? [..] so who am i, you decide, inside out you read my mind, what you gonna do with it?" // this is a general TSMP song and one that would've made it onto the Viking & Ruby playlist if i'd thought of it in time. the chorus and ending are peak Navigator vibes, though. "so who am i, you decide" is something i'm calling attention to as a fun meta thing, though, seeing as basically everything about Nav is speculation or in response to something.

ØCULIST: "white noise, i'm tied down from the first time i heard it! so, my sister static, hold on my hardened heart! [..] i can't help but can assist, see through you like an oculist, a universal hologram, these crimes will make you hollow, man!" // i love area 11 but trying to get me to explain how any of their songs relate to the blorbo of the hour is a losing battle.

Redshift: "we accelerate, we separate and fragment! we accelerate, through the estate of outer space! we accelerate! it appears that heaven's been abandoned [..] i climbed down from the wall where i sit and search for a source of light other than our dear sun, the lone star [..] a supergiant erupts into a supernova! the ultimate sacrifice, and we are the descendants!" // Aces asked me a while ago if Redshift is a Navigator song and it was on the "maybe" table for a while. then i went through like 5 different Enter Shikari songs for this playlist and it kept being not-quite-right until i pressed play on Redshift and it all clicked into place. hey, Navigator, how does it feel knowing you're the only one that knows about the missing piece? how does it feel subbing in for space himself? how does it feel being created because someone else is gone?

Don't Try - [Everything Everything Remix]: "the clock is ticking, meanwhile your life, your life is wasting [..] i know you mean a long time, saw your mask in the mirror, and you don't want to be here anymore [..] and yeah there's nothing alright, but you're here and you're glowing, so why you wanna keep it all inside? don't try to hide it!" // this is kinda where my characterization of Navigator starts to settle in, i think. he's tired but obligated to be who he is. plus, y'know, he's having to literally hide his existence, but that's going to fall apart no matter how hard he tries. note: the Spotify lyrics are wrong. there's two versions of this song with completely different lyrics.

Underline the Black: "how can i forget, what reason is left? when i looked at myself, i was somebody else [..] i just look, don't feel like myself at all, i'm just waiting for the axe to fall, and they're still waiting for their lives to start" // another case of "taking some lyrics literally" for the fun of it. tViking being an anomaly and also being the one Navigator is hijacking is a fun combination. there's also whatever Navigator might've been before, and what he's become to fill his role. is there still a way out or is this his life forever? everything's still at the beginning, but he's seen this play out so many times before.

Younger: "lie in wait by the gleaming city gate, try not to lose sight of the mission! [..] moment close at hand, half of you will never understand, and it doesn't really matter [..] it never hurts to give thanks to the navigator, even when he's spitting out random numbers." // another carry-over from the Viking and Ruby playlist, suggested by Charm! Naaaav what is your deaaaaaal

Undercover Agents: "i am currently under construction, thank you for your patience. we veneer, unveil, we present a cold disguise, we're all undercover agents [..] and i said if you want to go far and wide now, we've got to go together! [..] yeah i'm howling, can you hear us now? i was seeking another life and the moon was so bright! [..] it's only in our heads." // using this song in particular is weird for me because it's so heavily ingrained as another character. but that other character has some thematic overlap with Navigator, so it makes sense that the song clicks too.

Mirror: "yeah, do your worst all at once! i know what you want from me, from me, i know what you're thinking! [..] i'm tired of your questioning, you're cut down too easily, i don't know what's good for me, i can't decide [..] you're nearly there, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, it will all be okay in the end" // more Navigator and Sapphire struggling with each other. the ending is kind of their justifications to themselves: they need to keep going because there has to be a light at the end of this somewhere. they can both be free somehow. in the meantime, though, they're going to fight and they're going to tear each other down as much as they build each other up. "you and i are not going to talk again." "i missed talking to you."

Let's Get This Over With: "even when you're out of work, you still have a job to do! even when you don't know what it is, your job knows what it is. what it is, is it's coming to get you, i'm talking to myself even when i'm saying "you" [..] after all the spelling mistakes, after all the groping in the dark, can this page of strange gibberish get a final punctuation mark? [..] everybody knows how this goes, so let's get over it and let's get this over with! hurry up, and let's get this over with! you don't have to go home but you can't stay here!" // GESTURES. NAVIGATOR. BOTTOM TEXT.

[problematic-ship-tournament]

Problematic Ship Tournament: Round 1, Match 7

USS William D. Porter: A World War II destroyer that gained infamy when it nearly torpedoed the USS Iowa, with President Franklin D. Roosevelt on board, during a drill. While no one was harmed, other ships would mock the incident by saying "Don't shoot, we're Republicans!" when hailing the ship.

SS Californian: A steam ship that was near the Titanic when it sank, it most likely saw the flares sent up from the sinking ship, but never moved to assist. Had they responded, they could have saved nearly every person on board.

[preblesboys]

*curled up in fetal position tears streaming down my face*

Just finished Johnston Blakeley’s book. No I’m not okay thanks for asking.

I knew full well how it was going to end and it still hurts! The more painful twist is how there were unknown sightings of the Wasp that people didn’t think important enough to mention around the time period of its’ disappearance.

The most popular “last siting” was by Swedish Captain J. G. Molen of the brig Adonis. Two American midshipmen Stephen Decatur McKnight and James Lyman who were formerly of the USS Essex were on his ship on parole to England. They encountered Johnston Blakeley and the Wasp and the American midshipmen joined Blakeley.

This story wasn’t told until after Stephen Decatur made inquiries about his missing nephew around six years after the war when the Swedish captain unaware of the missing Wasp presented his logbook. This was included in David Porter’s Journal of the Cruise of the USS Essex second edition.

Another siting I’ve read from Johnston’s book is a clip from a newspaper article from The New Hampshire Gazette dating 1815

The Norfolk Va Beacon of November 22 contains the following paragraph: “A young gentleman in this borough, who has a brother, a lieutenant on board the Guerriere, and another midshipman aboard the Wasp, received a letter yesterday from his mother in King’s Creek, near Williamsborough, in which she announces a reprint of a letter from her son a lieutenant on the Guerriere informing her that he had heard from the Wasp; that she was on the coast of the Brazils.” (This source where this comes from is most respectable, yet it ought to be received with some caution by anxious friends.)

The brothers were Robert (of the Guerriere) and William (of the Wasp) Randolph. Robert Randolph was in with Stephen Decatur during the second Barbary War in 1815. How likely is this? Well the officer printed a “denial” in the Pittsburgh Mercury because the Wasp craze was starting to flare up again.

With British correspondence, multiple ships have been saying that they sited or were chased by “a hostile corvette” or “strange ship” close to the coast of Spain to the Canary Islands. Ultimately it was accepted that the Wasp shipped wrecked somewhere but, the question was “where?”

There are many, theories and among them is the Barbary Coast and if the crew didn’t perish, was sold into slavery by the Arabs as an English whale ship Spring Grove had such a fate in 1824. The crew was rescued from bondage.

The imagination runs wild as this is one of the greatest American naval mysteries. It has been asked why Johnston Blakeley didn’t sail back with his prize ship Atalanta into Savannah GA and the easiest answer was in search of more prey. The entire war he was stuck in one port or another and this was his first and only chance to participate. In doing so, he became one of the most successful American Captains in the age of sail on a cruise that we know since David Geisinger the midshipman who took the prize Atalanta home wrote “3 months and 5 days destroying 12 English merchant vessels with cargo valued up to TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND POUND STERLING and whipped two of his Britannic Majesty’s sloops of war comparatively speaking lost nothing.”

[taraross-1787]

TDIH: The Unlucky "Willie Dee"

On this day in 1943, a U.S. Navy destroyer accidentally torpedoes the battleship USS Iowa, then ferrying Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic. Perhaps you won’t be surprised to hear that this destroyer, USS William D. Porter, has been called “the unluckiest ship in US Navy history.”

Fortunately, everyone lived to tell the story.

Trouble began for the so-called “Willie Dee” during its first real mission. “The mishaps began as comedic scenes from Dumb and Dumber,” one historian writes dryly, “but evolved to the more serious.”

The destroyer had been assigned to accompany Iowa on a secret mission: The battleship was carrying Roosevelt and other officials across the Atlantic to meet with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-willie-dee-incident

[colorizedpast]

Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter (USN)

David Dixon Porter was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on 8 June 1813.  His family had strong naval traditions; his grandfather David and great-uncle Samuel had been captains of Massachusetts vessels during the American Revolutionary War; his father David and his uncle John served with distinction in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812.  His father achieved the rank of commodore.

Porter had nine siblings, five brothers.  His youngest brother died aged ten, but the surviving five boys all became U.S. military officers, four in the Navy: William, David, Hambleton, and Henry in the Navy and Theodoric in the Army where he was was killed at Matamoros during the Mexican-American War.  David’s cousin Fitz John Porter became a major general during the Civil War.  Another cousin, Bolton Porter, was lost with his ship USS Levant in 1861.  Another cousin, David Henry Porter, became a captain in the Mexican Navy during its fight for independence.

Before David Dixon was born, his parents adopted James Glasgow Farragut, whose mother had died in 1808 and whose father George, fellow naval officer and friend of David Sr., was unable to care for all his children.  In 1811, James, aged 10, started serving as a midshipman under Porter and changed his name to David as well.  David G. Farragut would serve with distinction during the Civil War and become the first man to attain the new rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy.

In 1824, Porter’s father resigned from the U.S. Navy and became the commander of Mexico’s navy.  He took with him into Mexican service his nephew David Henry and his sons David Dixon and Thomas.  On 10 February 1828, David Dixon and his cousin Captain David Henry Porter were involved in a fight against a Spanish frigate Lealtad.  Captain Porter was killed with many of his crew and midshipman David Dixon was wounded and imprisoned in Havana.  Once exchanged, his father sent Dixon back to the United States.

In 1829, Porter officially joined the U.S. Navy as a midshipman and slowly climbed the ranks serving in the Coast Survey and the Hydrographic Office.  In 1846, he was dispatched by Secretary of State James Buchanan to investigate the suitability of the Republic of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) for U.S. naval operations.  When he reestablished communications and delivered the information the State Department wanted, he found that the U.S. had gone to war with Mexico.

Mexico having very little naval power, the war presented few opportunities for distinction for a naval officer.  On 13 June 1847, Commodore Matthew C. Perry mounted an expedition to capture the interior town of Tabasco.  Porter led a charge to capture the fort defending the city and was rewarded with the captaincy of the Spitfire.

At the break of the Civil War, he was part of a plan to hold Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Florida.  This plan’s execution disrupted efforts to relieve the garrison at Fort Sumter, however.  In April 1862, Porter commanded a semi-autonomous part of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, commanded by his adoptive brother Captain David G. Farragut, bombarding with twenty mortar boats Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip south of New Orleans.  The bombardment was ineffective, and Farragut chose to run past the forts.  Successfully bypassing the forts, Farragut demanded the surrender of New Orleans on 29 April.  When Porter began to bombard Fort Jackson again, its garrison mutinied and forced its surrender and Fort St. Philip followed suit on 28 April.

Farragut and Porter continued up the Mississippi River to Vicksburg.  Porter’s mortars suppressed Rebel artillery while Farragut’s ships linked up with a flotilla coming down from the north.  However, without army support, the Vicksburg could not be taken.  In July, Porter and Farragut were ordered east to assist in Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign.

In October, Porter returned to Cairo, Illinois to take command, as an “acting” rear admiral having skipped the captain and commodore ranks, the Mississippi River Squadron.  Porter met the Army generals he would work closely with to open the Mississippi and capture Vicksburg.  He became fast friends with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, disliked Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand, and developed a professional friendship with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

On 16 April 1863, Porter moved the bulk of his fleet south past the batteries at Vicksburg.  On 22 April, another run provided Grant with the transport he needed to cross his army from the west bank of the Mississippi to the east south of Vicksburg.  Grant initially attempted to attack through Grand Gulf, but Porter could only silence one of the two forts guarding it.  His fleet played a secondary role throughout the rest of the campaign, blockading Vicksburg and controlling the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers.  On 4 July, Vicksburg fell, and Porter was made a permanent rear admiral.

In March 1864, Porter participated in Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’ Red River Expedition.  Cooperation between Banks and Porter was lacking and Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor was able to keep them separated.  Banks gave up on the expedition and Porter had the difficult task of extricating his fleet.

In late 1864 into early 1865, Porter took command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to assist in the attack on Fort Fisher protecting Wilmington, North Carolina, the only Confederate port still open.  Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler proposed flattening the fort by exploding a ship filled with gunpowder near it.  Porter agreed and the USS Louisiana was packed with powder and blown up on 24 December 1864 with little effect on the fort.  Butler gave up on the planned assault.

Porter went to Grant and demanded Butler be removed.  Grant agreed and placed Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry in charge of a second assault on the fort.  The second assault began on 13 January and by the 15th the fort was vanquished.

Porter accompanied President Lincoln on a tour of the capture Confederate capital of Richmond in April 1865.  Only days later, Lincoln was assassinated, and Porter was greatly upset by the news even feeling some responsibility for his death by not being with him that night.

Following the war, the U.S. Navy was downsized, and Porter was left with little to command.  Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles appointed him Superintendent of the Naval Academy.  Porter set about making the underfunded academy the rival of the Military Academy at West Point.

Porter gained a high level of influence under Grant’s Secretary of the Navy Adolph E. Borie, a businessman with no knowledge of the navy, and began to shape the navy as he wanted it.  He made several enemies and after three months, Borie resigned, and the new navy secretary, George Robeson, curtailed Porter’s powers.

Porter was the second ever U.S. Navy admiral, elevated to that rank after his adopted brother David G. Farragut’s death in 1870.  He was allowed to remain on active duty after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 62 in 1875.  He died at the age of 77 on 13 February 1891, having served on active duty in the U.S. Navy for 62 years.

[the-eternal-quest-for-balance]

US Navy's Unluckiest Ship With An Untouchable Crew - USS William D. Porter

They “ accidentally “ fired a live torpedo at the USS Iowa. Which just happened to have the President, the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, and other Military high ups on it.

You owe it to yourself to hear this story !!!!!!!

[riallasheng]

Quick! Top of your mind! What is the worst real life ship you can think of, and what is the worst fictional ship you can think of!

...Well this is a weird one...

Alright, top of my head

Real life? The Willie D (aka the USS William D Porter) although that TECHNICALLY fits more into 'unluckiest ship ever' rather than worst. Like, seriously, the Willie D almost killed a president BY ACCIDENT, and that wasn't even the start or end of her issues XD

Fictional? I'd say the Obra Dinn. I won't say anything else, as it's a FANTASTIC video game and I don't want to spoil the twists. but good lord. Though it, like the Willie D, is more 'unluckiest' ship

[rosemeriwether]

Commodore Lewis Warrington must have known there would be nosy people like me who would want to know every aspect about his life which is why he rarely left anything for biographers to work with.

Most can agree that he was very much a “behind the scenes” kind of person but that doesn’t excuse not letting people know that he had accomplishments worth mentioning! What are they? I’m not sure but I would know if the man actually said anything about his “hey I’m actually kind of interesting” life!

A lot of things I’ve read online are mostly from letters talking about or mentioning him and whatever biographers can scrape together about him. I want an actual book people because “books” are too much to ask for apparently!

The only thing I could gather about him besides being an illegitimate son of French nobility and few victories during the War of 1812 are as follows….

He replaced Commodore David Porter leading a squadron around the West Indies to eradicate pirates. John Quincy Adams even mentioned him in his State of the Union address.

After the USS Princeton explosion that killed John Tyler’s Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, Warrington served a month until the replacement John Y. Mason took the office.

I think Warrington was involved with the creation of the Naval Academy in Annapolis but I’m not sure. There just isn’t a lot of sources that I can cross reference for accuracy.