#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 .

[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

[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.

[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

[preblesboys]

Jacob Jones was a doctor but decided he needed a career change so became a midshipman at age 30.

Most scholars believe the sudden change was because the death of his first wife. (Jones would marry two more times.)

He was on the USS Philadelphia when it got captured in Tripoli so I’m sure he tended to his fellow officers in prison.

James Biddle a fellow former prisoner in Tripoli would become his first lieutenant on the Wasp when they encountered the Frolic.

This was one of the potential comic ideas I had in mind but it interwinds with the “David Porter prison school” plot which I’m sorting out. *accidentally thinks of simple comic idea but snowballs into a massive project that can disrupt the flow of things.*

If I tackle this, I’d be tempted to go from beginning to end; from David Porter being prison buddies with James Biddle in Tripoli to James Biddle betraying David Porter finding him guilty about his conduct in the West Indies thus leading Porter to be in the Mexican Navy for a period of time. Then after a few (failed) assassination attempts on Porter from the Mexicans because they didn’t want to pay him, Porter returning to America and James Biddle trying to make things right with his one time friend. Porter coolly declines keeping his vow not to associate with former colleagues who’ve done him wrong so Biddle takes Porter’s son David Dixon Porter (future admiral during the Civil War) under his wing and slightly spoils the young lad when he got into mischief. But thankfully not all of Porter’s Tripoli relations are full of backstabbing betrayal! Daniel Todd Patterson who helped Andrew Jackson fortify New Orleans had a daughter would marry David Dixon Porter thus uniting the two families and boy oh boy the two naval officers couldn’t have been happier!- wait. Didn’t this start out about Jacob Jones?

Whoops, I just gave the whole plot away.

[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.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

USS Albacore (SS-218), a 311-foot, Gato-class submarine lost 7 November 1944 of the coast of Hokkaido Japan, she was presumed lost on 21 December 1944 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 March 1945, found 16 February 2023.

The USS Albacore earned 9 battle stars, received 4 Presidential Unit Citations and was responsible for sinking at least 10 ships.

Below is a listing of the ships compliment, their names are written in memorial at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii:

IN THESE GARDENS ARE RECORDED

THE NAMES OF AMERICANS

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY

AND WHOSE EARTHLY RESTING PLACE

IS KNOWN ONLY TO GOD

Walter Henry Barber, Jr., Kenneth Ripley Baumer, Henry Forbes Bigelow, Jr., Edward Brown Blackmon, William Walter Bower, Allan Rose Brannam, Herbert Hodge Burch, Nicholas John Cado, John Joseph Carano, Charles Lee Carpenter, James Louis Carpenter, Pasquale Charles Carracino, Stanley Chapman, Douglas Childress, Jr., Frederick Herbert Childs, Jr., Perry Aubrey Collom, Audrey Cecil Crayton, Eugene Cugnin, John Wilber Culbertson, Philip Hugh Davis, Ray Ellis Davis, Fred Wallace Day, Julius Delfonso, James Leroy DeWitt, James Thomas Dunlap, Carl Hillis Eskew, John Francis Fortier, Jr., Gordon Harvey Fullilove, Jr., John Wilfred Gant, John Paul Gennett, William Henry Gibson, John Frederick Gilkeson, Charles Chester Hall, James Kenneth Harrell, Robert Daniel Hill, Allen Don Hudgins, Donald Patrick Hughes, Eugene Edsel Hutchinson, Burton Paul Johnson, Sheridan Patrick Jones, George Kaplafka, Nelson Kelley, Jr., Morris Keith Kincaid, Victor Edward Kinon, Joseph Mike Krizanek, Arthur Star Kruger,Walter Emery Lang, Jr., Jack Allen Little, Kenneth Walter Manful, Patrick Kennyless McKenna, Willie Alexander McNeill, Joseph Norfleet Mercer, Leonard David Moss, Richard Joseph Naudack, Encarnacion Nevarez, Joseph Hayes Northam, Frank Robert Nystrom, Robert James O'Brien, Elmer Harold Peterson, Charles Francis Pieringer, Jr., James Teel Porter, Jerrold Winfred Reed, Jr., Francis Albert Riley, Hugh Raynor Rimmer, A. B. Roberts, James Ernest Rowe, Philip Shoenthal, George Maurice Sisk, Joe Lewis Spratt, Harold William St. Clair, Arthur Lemmie Stanton, Robert Joseph Starace, John Henry Stephenson, Maurice Crooks Strattan, Earl Richard Tanner, William George Tesser, Paul Raymond Tomich, Charles Edward Traynor, Theodore Taylor Walker, Elmer Weisenfluh, James Donald Welch, Richard Albert West, Wesley Joseph Willans, Leslie Allan Wilmott, David Robert Wood

[araiz-zaria]

A while back someone asked me whether George H. Thomas smoked, and while I haven't found anything pointing towards/against that I incidentally came across this recount on Midshipman Farragut's time on USS Essex when it sailed southwards (IIRC after they didn't end up meeting USS Constitution at the planned meeting point during the War of 1812), particularly when Commodore David Porter Jr. found out that Glasgow chewed tobacco (for the first time..)

...ooof, that sure was a brutal way to prevent your ward from consuming tobacco... 💀 Apparently Glasgow never consumed tobacco in any form after that incident... 👀👀💀

[judgemark45]

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Porter DDG-78