USS Portsmouth (1798)

From Wikipedia.

The USS Portsmouth was the first ship (of four) in the U.S. Navy with that name.  It was constructed in 1798 by master shipbuilder James Hackett to the design of Josiah Fox at what is now Badger's Island, in Kittery, Maine,  directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

She was built by funds contributed by the citizens of Portsmouth.  Quite a few ships built around that time were funded by private citizens.  It carried 24 guns.

Commanded by Captain Daniel McNeil, the Portsmouth operated in the West Indies during the Quasi War with France in the squadron commanded by Commodore John Barry.  In 1800, she sailed to France  to bring back the U.S. envoys who had concluded peace negotiations with France.

After a second cruise in the Caribbean, the Portsmouth was sold  less than three years later in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1801 because of the military cutbacks by the new Thomas Jefferson administration after the peace treaty with France was signed, ending the Quasi War.

So, the ship did not participate in the War of 1812.   But, many U.S. Navy officers did who went on to fame in the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry