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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo # NH 47207:  Naval Constructor John L. Porter, CSN.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter, Confederate States Navy, (1821-1877)

John L. Porter, whose father was a shipwright at Portsmouth, Virginia, was born in 1813. He became a Navy civilian employee during the 1840s and a Naval Constructor in 1859. After resigning from the U.S. Navy in May 1861, he began working for the Confederate Navy at the Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard, at Portsmouth. He played an important role in the conversion of the scuttled and burned steam frigate Merrimack to an ironclad, which became CSS Virginia when commissioned in February 1862.

After the Confederates abandoned the Norfolk area in May 1862, Porter became a Naval Constructor at Richmond and later at Wilmington, North Carolina. He was promoted to Chief Naval Constructor in January 1864 and served in that capacity to the end of the Civil War, designing many of the South's domestically-built warships. Following the conflict, Porter worked in civilian shipbuilding, industry and ferry operations. He died on 14 December 1893.

This page features our only pictures of Chief Naval Constructor John L. Porter, CSN.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 47207

Naval Constructor John L. Porter, CSN


Photograph published as a halftone in Fiveash, "Virginia-Monitor Engagement", Norfolk, Va., 1907.
In 1861-62, he was involved in converting the burned U.S. frigate Merrimack into the Confederate ironclad Virginia.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 119KB; 590 x 765 pixels

 

In addition to the views shown above, our Photo # NH 45978 features a small picture of John L. Porter. This view appears identical, or very similar, to NH 47207, which is shown above.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 15 June 2001