LETTERS David Porter v. David Dixon Porter Commodore David Poner (1780-1843), the subj ect of William H. White's articl e in Sea H istory 129 (Winter 2009-10), was the fat her, but the tide, "D avid Dixo n Porter Jr.," is rhe son! That gaffe aside, there is an interesting project pursued by David Porter of which most of yo ur readers may be unaware. Foll owing his release from capriviry in June 1805, he was given command of Enterprize and employed as a messenger for rhe commodore, exchanging communications with American diplomats in rhe various Mediterranean pons, delivering orders to rhe squadron's dispersed units and returning their reports. Ir was an ideal situation for a man who had decided to pursue the creation of a memo rial to the six naval officers lost at Tripoli. For fundin g, he es tablished a "gift" level for the several grades of officers in the squadron. Ships' captains were expected to come aboard at rwenry dollars apiece. Wardroom officers were expected to kick in ren dollars each, and surgeo n's mare, captains' clerks, and midshipmen , fi ve dollars a head. As rh e mo nths passed, he managed to contact just about everyone still in the squadron and coll ected at leas t $ 1,200. To create rhe memorial, he eventually selected an Italian sculp tor, Giovanni Carlo Micali . The work was completed abo ut 1 February 1807, and Porter reported to Washington that it wo uld be shipped in forry-five cases weighing a total of fifteen tons. Later that year, the homeward bound Constitution was tasked to be the carrier of what turned out to be ninery-eight "large boxes." On 1 March 1808, Porter formal ly delivered the memorial to the Navy, together with funds for its erection. The m emorial initially was located in rhe Washington Navy Yard, but following the War of 1812, which it survived with only min o r dam age, it was relocated to a reflecting pool near the Capi tol. As a part of rhe major post-C ivil War building program at rhe Naval Academy, the memo rial was moved thence as an appropriate source of inspiratio n fo r the aspiring SEA HISTORY 130, SPRING 20 10
We Welcome Your Letters! Write to the editor at editorial@seahistory.org or by mail to: Editor, Sea H istory, 7 Timberknoll Rd., Pocasset, MA 02559. midshipmen. And that is where the nation's oldes t veterans monument still is today. Unfortunately, the sculptor, not rold otherwise, thought it wo uld be placed indoors in th e European m anner of the day, and co nstructed it of a soft
Tramp Steamers I was am azed to see on page 4 of the Winter 2009- 10 issue a reproduction of a painting showing the SS Karanja. I served in the Peace Corps in Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) d uring rhe years 1964-65, and along with a couple of fe llow Peace Corps volunteers, (left) Commodore I spent C hristmas 1964 in Mombasa. My David Porter, USN buddies and I booked passage on the SS (1 780-1843), and Karanja from Mombasa to Dar es Salaam , (below) his son, Admi- which was just an overnight voyage. Being ral David Dixon Porter, Peace Co rps volunteers, we wanted Thi rd USN (1813- 1891) C lass ti ckers, and I recall that the agent was reluctant to let us have them. The agent said Third Class was too "rough," but he did final ly give in , and we m ade do on prisonsryle bunks down in the hold. I did not see any further information abour the ship, but maybe yo u could tell me something I could pass alo ng. Ir couldn't be still afloat. MICHAEL S HO UGH
San Francisco, California
Carrara marble that is being eroded quite noticeably in its o utdoor location. A few years ago, an Academy class funded an effort to clean it and remove mold and fun gi, but that was only a delaying action. Ir needs to be placed indoors. CDR TY MARTIN, USN (RET) Tryon, No rth Carolina
Ian Marshall- Mr. Shough must have travelled in the SS Karanja (1 0,3 00 tons) of the BI line built in 1948. She operated in the Bombay-Durban service, calling atports along the east coast ofAfrica. The ship was sold in 1976 to the Indian Shipping Corporation, renamedNancowry and was employed on the Madras-Andaman Island service. She was still going in 1987, but I should imagine she did not continue for more than 10 years because she used steam turbines. She and her sister ship could carry 2, 441 passengers(!), ofwhich
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