Curated person dossier
United States Navy · PacificDavid Porter
1780–1843
Captain of USS EssexPorter carried the war around Cape Horn, disrupted British whaling, accumulated prizes, intervened at Nuku Hiva, and lost Essex off Valparaíso.
Why this record matters
His cruise makes the war’s global geography impossible to ignore while raising questions about American power and Indigenous Polynesian agency.
Follow the evidence
Sources for this dossier
- The War in the Pacific, 1813–April 1814Naval History and Heritage Command · digital exhibition
USS Essex, Pacific prizes, Nuku Hiva, and Valparaíso.