The first Porpoise was a 12-gun schooner built by the government at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1820. She was one of the vessels authorized by the Act of May 15, 1820. Her cost was $25,529. Her principal characteristics were: burden, 198 tons; length, 88 ft.; breadth, 23 ft. 6 in.; depth of hold, 10 ft.; draft, 12 ft. 4 in. She carried a battery of twelve long 6-pounders.
The Porpoise was commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on March 30, 1821, and put to sea four weeks later, under the command of Lieutenant James Ramage. Her mission was to assist in protecting American merchantmen in the West Indies and to check the activities of the pirates and buccaneers who infested those islands. On November 8, 1821, she burnt one piratical vessel off Cape Antonio, Cuba, and in January, 1822, six more prizes were captured. Toward the close of this cruise the Porpoise carried out a survey of the coast of Florida. She was dismantled at Norfolk, Virginia, on March 27, 1823.
A new commission dates from May 9, 1824, with Lieutenant Charles W. Skinner in command. This cruise lasted eight months, the Porpoise visiting the west coast of Africa after a tour of the West Indies. Among the captures made by the active little cruiser were one armed schooner and three boats, which were taken near Matanzas, Cuba.
Then followed a short cruise in home Raters under Lieutenant Foxhall A. Parker, June, 1825. From 1826 to 1830, the Porpoise was employed in the Mediterranean Sea, her commanding officers being Lieutenant Benjamin Cooper, January 1, 1826, Lieutenant John H. Bell, April, 1828, and Lieutenant Thomas M. Newell, May 25, 1829. The next cruise of the Porpoise took her again to the West Indies, where she was actively employed under Lieutenant John Percival, 1830, Lieutenant James Armstrong, 1831, and Lieutenant James McIntosh, October 23, 1832. She put into Pensacola, Florida, in July, 1833, where Lieutenant William Taylor joined the ship. His orders were to proceed to the coast of Mexico for the protection of American interests in the vicinity of Vera Cruz. But while engaged in this duty, the Porpoise was wrecked on a reef off the Island of Sacrificios, Mexico, November 2, 1833. The crew were saved.
The second Porpoise was a 10-gun brig built by the government at the Navy Yard, Boston, Massachusetts. Her construction was authorized by the Act of June 30, 1834, and she was launched on May 31, 1836. Her cost was $45,000. The hull was of wood, with the following dimensions: burden, 224 tons; length, 88 ft.; breadth, 25 ft.; depth of hold, 11 ft.; draft, 13 ft. When first commissioned she carried only two long 9’s and two 24-pdr. carronades, but in November, 1843, she was given a full battery of ten 24-pdr. carronades and two long guns. Three years later two of the carronades were taken out, and in November, 1848, two more of the broadside guns were removed. In 1852 she mounted two long 32-pounders and three howitzers. The crew consisted of 80 men.
The Porpoise made her first cruise under Lieutenant William Ramsay, sailing from Boston on August 25, 1836. After visiting various southern ports with a commission appointed for this purpose, she was sent to make an extended survey of the coast, in charge of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, July, 1837. In October, 1837, Commander Silas H. Stringham was ordered to take the Porpoise out in search of some pirate craft that were reported off the coast, and on her return from this service she resumed her surveys of the southern ports under the direction of Lieutenant Wilkes, December, 1837.
On August 18, 1838, the Porpoise sailed from Hampton Roads, with the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, which included the sloops of war Peacock and Vincennes, and the tenders Sea Gull and Flying Fish. The Porpoise was commanded by Lieutenant Cadwalader Ringgold. After sailing around the South American continent, the vessels arrived at Valparaiso, Chile, about the middle of May, 1839. Then began the projected western cruise, which included surveys of the Low Archipelago, the Island of Tahiti and the Samoan Islands. After refitting at New Sydney, New South Wales, the squadron left on December 26, 1839, on its famous Antarctic cruise. Icebergs were first encountered in Lat. 61°-08' S., Long. 162°-32' E. Frequent glimpses were caught of the frozen regions, but icy barriers prevented the ships from reaching land. The Peacock lost her rudder and was obliged to return to Sydney, but the Porpoise and Vincennes kept on to the westward, and on January 30, 1840, discovered Piner’s Bay in Lat. 66°-45'S., Long. 140°- 02'-30" E. The name of the Antarctic Continent was now for the first time given to the newly found land. On February 14 the progress of the Porpoise was stopped by an immense wall of ice extending far to the north and Lieutenant Ringgold thereupon decided to retrace his course.
After refitting at Sydney, the Porpoise was directed to make a survey of the eastern group of the Fiji Islands. In November, 1840, she examined the Paumotu group and on the completion of this work, she rejoined the flagship at Honolulu, on March 24, 1841. From there the vessels sailed for the American coast, which they proceeded to survey for the first time. Eight hundred miles were laid down on the streams and coast of Oregon, after which the expedition set out on its homeward voyage by way of the Sea of China, Indian Ocean, and Cape of Good Hope. At Singapore various surveys engaged the attention of the squadron for about a month. Then the ships again weighed anchor, reaching New York in July, 1842.
In the following year, the Porpoise was ordered to the west coast of Africa, where a squadron was operating to check the activities of the slave traders. This cruise lasted 18 months. The brig sailed from New York on February 8, 1843, under Lieutenant Arthur Lewis, who kept her only 4 months and then turned her over to Lieutenant Henry S. Stellwagen at Porto Praya, June, 1843. Lieutenant Thomas T. Craven, October, 1843, brought her home in the fall of the next year, the cruise ending at New York on November 19, 1844.
The next cruise took the Porpoise to the Gulf of Mexico where she formed part of Commodore Conner’s squadron, under Lieutenants Junius J. Boyle and William E. Hunt, February, 1845. The outbreak of hostilities with Mexico found her still on that station, which gave her an opportunity of participating in the naval operations against Tampico, Panuco, and Vera Cruz. In the summer of 1847 she was detached from the squadron and ordered north, being placed out of commission at Norfolk, in July, 1847.
A new commission dates from January 1, 1848, with Lieutenant Alexander G. Gordon in command. Her cruising ground for two years extended along the west coast of Africa. Lieutenant Gordon died at Porto Grande on October 11, 1849, whereupon the command devolved upon Lieutenant Benjamin F. Sands, who brought the ship back to the United States in April, 1850. But in the following month she was again refitted by Lieutenant James L. Lardner, May 18, 1850, for another cruise on the African station, from which she returned two years later, under Lieutenant Edward R. Thomson, December 19, 1851, going out of commission at New York on August 3, 1852.
After 9 months’ idleness, the Porpoise was again commissioned under the command of Acting Lieutenant William K. Bridge, May, 1853, and sailed for the North Pacific Ocean with Commander Ringgold’s exploring expedition to the Bering Sea and the China Sea. After an extended cruise among the Bonin and Ladrone Islands, the squadron entered Hongkong, China, in February, 1855, with the exception of the Porpoise, which parted company with her consorts on September 21, 1854, in mid-channel, between Formosa and China, and was never heard of again. It is supposed that she foundered in a heavy typhoon, which occurred not long after her separation from the squadron.
The third Porpoise was a submarine torpedo boat built by contract under authority of the Act of Congress approved June 7, 1900. Her keel was laid at the Crescent Shipyard, Elizabethport, New Jersey, on December 13, 1900, and she was launched on September 23, 1911. Her cost was $170,000. The hull was of steel, with the following characteristics: displacement, 122½ tons; length, 63 ft. 10 in.; diameter, 11 ft. 10½ in. On the surface she was propelled by a single-screw 4-cylinder Otto gasoline engine of 160 horsepower; while submerged she depended upon electric motors. Her surface speed was 8.41 knots; under water she was credited with making 7.12 knots. She had 1 torpedo tube and carried 3 Whitehead torpedoes. The crew numbered 5 men.
The Porpoise was placed in commission on September 19, 1903, and during the next few years she was attached to the torpedo station at Newport, R. I. Under Lieutenant Charles P. Nelson, 1905, she formed part of the First Submarine Flotilla, after which she was shipped to the Philippine Islands, where she was refitted on November 20, 1908, for service with the Asiatic Torpedo Flotilla. Her commanding officers from 1908 to 1911 were: Lieutenant Guy W. Castle, November 20, 1908, Ensign Kenneth Whiting, July 8, 1909, Ensign Earnest D. McWhorter, May 29, 1910, Ensign Henry M. Jensen, 1910, and Ensign James C. Van de Carr, August 24, 1910. The name of the Porpoise was changed on November 17, 1911, to A-6.
The fourth Porpoise was a motor patrol boat in service during the World War. She was employed in home waters, and after the Armistice was returned to her owner, January 27, 1919.
The fifth Porpoise was a steel ferryboat purchased on March 28, 1918, from the Maine Central Railroad Company for $250,000. She was originally called the Moose head, her name being changed to Porpoise in 1921. She was built by the Bath Iron Works at Bath, Maine, in 1911, her principal dimensions being: displacement, 710 tons; length, 185 ft. 2 in.; breadth, 33 ft. 9 in.; draft, 10 ft. 9 in. She had twin-screw vertical triple-expansion engines of 2,400 horsepower and two single-ended boilers. The maximum speed was 19 knots. The Porpoise was attached to the Washington Navy Yard, where she was employed continuously from 1918 to 1924.
The latest Porpoise is a submarine.