USS Portsmouth 1843 Sloop of War

 22 Dec 23:

The second USS Portsmouth was a wooden sloop-of-war in the United States Navy in service during the mid-to-late 19th century. She was designed by Josiah Barker on the lines of a French-built privateer, and built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was described as an improvement over USS Saratoga built in the same shipyard a year earlier. Portsmouth was launched on 23 October 1843 and commissioned on 10 November 1844, with Commander John Berrien Montgomery in command.

One of Skipper's favorite ships, as her ancestor Lt. Benjamin F. B. Hunter was Sailing Master onboard during the Mexican-American War. 

FMI: USS Portsmouth

USS Portsmouth 1843

07 Dec 1941:

We stumbled upon some great photos of the USS Portsmouth in the digital archives  of the Naval History and Heritage and Museum. One we had not seen before was "Old Poverty" under full sail.

USS Portsmouth built 1843. NHHC Digital Archives

We enjoyed looking at the older photos, some dating back to the 1880s, as they show many of the ship's boats, and there were a lot of them. 

A very impressive stern, we'd like to have the emblem on the back. Did you notice the gentleman standing by the keel?

"The second USS Portsmouth was a wooden sloop-of-war in the United States Navy in service during the mid-to-late 19th century. She was designed by Josiah Barker on the lines of a French-built privateer, and built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was described as an improvement over USS Saratoga built in the same shipyard a year earlier. Portsmouth was launched on 23 October 1843 and commissioned on 10 November 1844, with Commander John Berrien Montgomery in command."

Skipper's ancestor Lt Benjamin F. B. Hunter was listed in the ship's roster as Acting Sailing Master with the 1847 Pacific Squadron, during the Conquest of the Californias. The Portsmouth is also depicted on the official seal for the city of San Francisco.

FMI: 

Naval History and Heritage and Museum

USS Portsmouth

USS Portsmouth Double Helm

Skipper's ancestor Lt Benjamin F. B. Hunter served aboard the USS Portsmouth in 1846, listed on the ship's roster as the Acting Master during the Mexican American War.

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)