Skipper did some research in college and wondered where the ship may have ended up, she found it, burned in Boston Harbor for a carnival in 1915! Before they burned it though, some of the bits were taken off, including the ships double helm. Further research indicated that the helm migrated to San Francisco to the Bank of America headquarters, given to the bank by the Portsmouth Yacht Club as a sign of their appreciation for the ship's role in the Conquest of the Californias. For many years, personal checks from Bank of America had a ship's wheel on the lower left corner and we heard rumor that the wheel was kept at BofA HQ.
Fast forward to 1995, we were out in California and made a few phone calls and got a personal tour of the double helm, located in the executive office reception area of the BofA HQ. It was fun calling ahead and getting transferred around, asking "Do you have a big ship's wheel in your office?" and someone answering "Well, there's something over by the corner, not sure what it is, it has a sign by it" and then finding out it was a double helm, complete with deck grating. We got permission to show up and check it out, they even stayed open a few minutes late to accommodate us. Skipper got to stand in the same spot that her Great-Great Grandfather stood.
I showed up expecting something small, like 30 inches diameter or so, not something we could stand on!
We will always be appreciative of the Bank's hospitality, and think of those days when ships were wood and the Sailors were steel.
USS Portsmouth
Lt. Benjamin F. B. Hunter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Portsmouth_(1843)
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