Naval Officer. He achieved the rank of captain and the honorary title of commodore. He commanded a number of US naval ships including the USS Constitution. He served in the First Barbary War, the War of 1812 and in the West Indies. As a young boy, he went on sea voyages with his father who had been an American Revolutionary War naval commander. He became a midshipman in 1798, was promoted to lieutenant in 1799, and took part in the undeclared war against France in 1799 and the war with Tripoli from 1801 to 1805. He was promoted to captain in 1812 and gained a reputation as commander of the USS Essex over the next two years. His was the first US warship to become active in Pacific waters. On July 2, 1812, he hoisted the banner "Free trade and sailors' rights" as captain of USS Essex. He captured a large number of British whaling vessels and took possession of the largest of the Marquesas Islands in November 1813. In February 1814, he was blockaded by British frigates in the harbor of Valparaiso, Chile, and was defeated at the end of March. He went on to serve on the new Board of Naval Commissioners from 1815 to 1823. He commanded a squadron sent to the West Indies to suppress piracy. One of his officers landed in Puerto Rico and was imprisoned by the Spanish authorities, and Porter sent in an armed force demanding an apology. For this unauthorized action, he was recalled, court-martialed, and suspended from duty. Resigning his commission, he accepted appointment as commander in chief of the Mexican navy from 1826 to 1829, then fighting Spain. Upon returning to the United States, he was sent to Algiers as US consul general in 1830, and then to Constantinople in 1831 where he became minister in 1841. He died on March 3, 1843 in Constantinople, known today as Istanbul, Turkey while serving as United States Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire. He was buried in the cemetery of the Philadelphia Naval Asylum, and then in 1845 reburied in the Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Porter after him.