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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

USS Portsmouth (II)

1910-International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - Quack - Jig NQJ

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Civil War Medal

Sloop of War:

Laid down as a wooden sloop-of-war at Portsmouth N.H. Navy Yard

Launched, 23 October 1843

Commissioned, 10 November 1844, CDR. John B. Montgomery in command

Initially assigned to the Mexican coast in the Gulf of Mexico

Shifted to the Pacific coast in 1848

Returning to Boston in May 1848 departing there, 29 August 1848 for the African coast

Returning to Boston, 26 June 1851

Assigned to the Pacific in December 1851, returning to Norfolk, 5 April 1855, overhaul

Leaving Norfolk, 3 May 1856 for the Pacific

Ordered to Portsmouth, N. H., in January 1858

Reassigned to the Africa coast in 1859

Captured slaver Virginian off Congo River, 6 February 1860

Captured brig Falmouth off Porto Praya, 5 June 1860

Refitted at Portsmouth between September and December 1861

Assigned to the Gulf Blockading Squadron in December 1861

During the Civil War Portsmouth took as prizes, SS Labuan and SS Wave on 18 February 1862 and Pioneer on 20 February 1862

From 1866 to 1867 Portsmouth serviced as quarantine vessel at New York

Cruised off the coast of Brazil and Africa from 1869 to 1871

Carried relief personnel to Brazil in 1872

Participated in surveying assignments in the eastern Pacific, 1873 to 1874

Cruised off the west coast of Central and South American in 1875

Decommissioned as a cruiser, 14 July 1878, and designated as a training ship for boys

Sailed in March for France, returning in December to resume training duties with naval apprentices

Assigned as training ship for the New Jersey Naval Militia, 17 January 1895 to March 1911

Loaded to the Marine Hospital Service in Hampton Roads in March 1911

Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1915

Final Disposition, sold and towed to Governors Island, Boston Harbor and burned for parts, 6-7 September 1915

Specifications:
Displacement 1,022 t.
Length 153'
Beam 38' 1"
Depth 16' 9"
Draft 16' 6"
Speed unknown
Complement 200
Armament
September 61
sixteen 8"/63 guns
one 12-pdr
July 1863
sixteen 8"/63 guns
two 8"/55 guns
one 20-pdr rifle
one 12-pdr
June 1864
one 100-pdr rifle
Propulsion sail

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
098602521	180k	USS Portsmouth at anchor. Philibrick collection, Kittery Maine. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 514.	Robert Hurst
098602522	188k	USS Portsmouth under full sail. Philibrick collection, Kittery Maine. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 512.	Robert Hurst
098602523	210k	USS Portsmouth moored pierside, date and location unknown. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 108152.	Robert Hurst
098602524	177k	USS Portsmouth underway, date and location unknown. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 108156.	Robert Hurst
098602525	211k	Black and white photo of an undated painting by the artist P.Schiot, of USS Portsmouth under full sail. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # 85214-KN. Courtesy of Mr. A. Neil Schiot.	Robert Hurst
	85k	Marine 2nd LT. Henry Bulls Watson's Marines of the USS Portsmouth proceeding ashore, 9 July 1846 to hoist the American flag at Yerba Buena, San Francisco. Ink drawing by Arman Manookian, Honolulu Academy of Arts, circa 1920s.	Robert Hurst
	153k	Attack on the Barrier Forts (Second Opium War) near Canton, China, by the American squadron, 21 November 1856 - consisting of the U.S. sloops-of-war USS Portsmouth and USS Levant with the officers and crew of the steam frigate USS San Jacinto. Painting by A. Poinsett; Maker John Henry Bufford (1810–1870). Courtesy National Maritime Museum, London, England.	Robert Hurst
	48k	USS Portsmouth anchored off New Orleans, Louisiana sometime between 1861 and 1865, as part of the Gulf Blockading Squadron. Library of Congress, Photo No. LC-USZ62-62357	Mike Green
098602533	166k	USS Portsmouth (II) at anchor in a harbor with the French warship *Milano, during the U.S. Civil War. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 49982*	Robert Hurst
	79k	Lithograph after a drawing by Joseph L. Jones, circa 1877-1880 depicting a Naval Review in Hampton-Roads, VA. dedicated to Secretary of the Navy Richard W. Thompson. Ships present include (from left): USS Marion, USS Tallapoosa (flying the Secretary of the Navy's Flag), USS Constitution, USS Kearsarge, USS Saratoga, USS Powhatan, USS Portsmouth and USS Minnesota. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 61193. Courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.	Robert Hurst
	307k	USS Portsmouth at Portsmouth Navy Yard sometime after the civil war. US Navy photo from "Warships of The Civil War Navies" by Paul H. Silverstone.	Robert Hurst
	65k	USS Portsmouth at anchor, date and location unknown. Photo taken by J.N. Johnston, New York, courtesy Wikipedia.	Robert Hurst
098602516	202k	Montage of the officers of USS Portsmouth by Bradley & Rulofson, San Francisco, circa 1876. *Portsmouth* was then training ship at Mare Island Navy Yard. Identified officers are (As noted on photos): Lieutenant E. K. Moore, Commander Silas Casey, Lieutenant G. E. Ide, Lieutenant A. B. Wyckoff, Midshipman A. W. Rollins ?, Assistant Paymaster H. G. Colby, Ensign M. E. Hall. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 42686. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42686	Robert Hurst
098602515	224k	USS Portsmouth Gatling gun and crew, circa the 1880s. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42685	Robert Hurst
098602518	251k	USS Portsmouth petty officers, circa the 1880s. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42864	Robert Hurst
098602519	187k	A USS Portsmouth Signal quartermaster hoisting a flag signal, on the quarterdeck, circa the 1880s. Note steering wheel, and gallery smokestack protruding through hatch skylight at left. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 42683	Robert Hurst
098602517	293k	USS Portsmouth officers, date unknown. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 959	Robert Hurst
098602526	135k	USS Portsmouth at Portsmouth, England, 1882. Note ship-of-the-line hulks. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85933. Courtesy of Alfred Cellier, 1977	Robert Hurst
098602532	181k	USS Portsmouth (II) at anchor in the harbor at San Diego, CA. in 1884. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108162, Donation of Rear Admiral Ammen Farenhholt, 1932.	Robert Hurst
098602527	152k	Painting by Fred S. Cozzens, 1893 of from left to right; USS Portsmouth (II) USS Constellation (II), USS Bancroft, and USS Saratoga (III) US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 442. "Our Navy: Its Growth and Achievements", ©1897.	Robert Hurst
098602529	194k	USS Portsmouth (II), circa 1890, during the period 1879-1895 *Portsmouth* was employed as a training ship for naval apprentices. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108166	Robert Hurst
098602530	185k	USS Portsmouth (II) while serving in the U.S. Training Squadron. Photo-Gravure Co., E.H. Hart, N.Y. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108158	Robert Hurst
098602531	178k	USS Portsmouth (II) while serving in the U.S. Training Squadron. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108159	Robert Hurst
098602535	201k	USS Portsmouth (II) while serving as as training ship, August 1, 1894. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 108165. Donated by Rear Admiral Ammen Farenhholt, 1934.	Robert Hurst
098602513	192k	USS Portsmouth laying alongside USS Lancaster while in ordinary at Brooklyn Navy Yard, probably circa 1894. Image from the book "The Naval History of the United States", by Willis J. Abbot, 1863-1934.	Robert Hurst
	91k	Sloop-of-War USS Portsmouth under full sail. Image is from the front cover on the book "Sheep Set" published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1897.	Robert Hurst
	139k	Starboard view of USS Portsmouth fully rigged, at anchor in the Hudson River while taking part in the September, 1899 two day Dewey Celebration. Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-20888	Mike Green
098602534	133k	USS Portsmouth (II) at anchor, circa the 1890s, location unknown. Glass lantern slide original. From the A.S. Murray Collection. Original slide purchased from the Peale Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, 1963. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 44654	Robert Hurst
098602512	417k	Cyanotype print of the wooden sloop-of-war USS Portsmouth, May 1901, as training ship for the New Jersey Naval Militia. US Naval History and Heritage Command Catalog #UA 01.08. From the Collection of RADM Frank L. Pinney, Jr.	Robert Hurst
098602528	211k	USS Portsmouth moored pierside in May 1901 while serving as training ship for the New Jersey Naval Militia. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 19-N-19-1-2.	Robert Hurst
	146k	Starboard bow view of USS Portsmouth anchored in the Hudson River during 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration. Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-22600	Mike Green
	107k	Port bow view of USS Portsmouth anchored in the Hudson River during 1909 Hudson-Fulton celebration. Library of Congress photo # LC-D4-39216	Mike Green
	40k	USS Portsmouth at anchor, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
098602514	174k	USS Portsmouth while serving as the training ship for the New Jersey Naval Militia, 17 January 1895 to March 1911. A vision of The By-gone. "The Sloop-of-war Portsmouth Of The Old Navy". "Photographic History of The Civil War" Volume 6 Page 010. Authors Various. Editor Francis Trevelyan Miller (1877-1959) (Editor-in-chief); Robert Sampson Lanier (1880-) (Managing editor). Pub. Review of Reviews Co., New York. New York City, 1911.	Robert Hurst
	141k	Ex-USS Portsmouth was was struck from the Navy list, 17 April 1915, and sold. Her hulk was taken to Governors Island, Boston Harbor and burned on the night of September 6–7, 1915, the culmination of a South Boston carnival. The event was well attended by politicians and others, and a fire boat siren shrieked a salute as flames poured out of her empty gun ports. Source: Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.	Mike Green
098602520	176k	USS Portsmouth's double helm removed during decommissioning, given to Bank of America. 1 July 2019. Photo taken by Signalcharlie (real name unknown).	Robert Hurst