Porter, David

Porter, David (1780–1843), as a naval officer during the War of 1812 served in the Pacific, protecting American trade, capturing British whaling ships, and taking possession of the Marquesas islands, although the U.S. did not officially recognize this seizure. His account of his voyage, A Journal of a Cruise Made to the Pacific Ocean, 1812–1814 (2 vols., 1815), contains a passage that suggested a sketch in Melville's The Encantadas. His later hostile acts against the friendly Spanish while he was suppressing piracy in the West Indies caused his suspension from the navy. With his son David Dixon Porter (1813–91) he went to Mexico and commanded its navy (1826–29), until his friend Jackson became President, and appointed him U.S. consul general to Algiers and later minister to Turkey. His letters to J.K. Paulding were published as Constantinople and Its Environs (2 vols., 1835). A Memoir of his life was published (1865) by his son, who rose to the rank of admiral, served in the Civil War, was superintendent of Annapolis, and wrote a naval history of the Civil War, his own memoirs, and two novels.