USS Portsmouth (1843)

USS Portsmouth in 1896 (John S. Johnston, photographer)
History
United States
Name	USS Portsmouth
Builder	Portsmouth Navy Yard, its namesake navy yard
Launched	23 October 1843
Commissioned	10 November 1844
Decommissioned	14 July 1878
Stricken	17 April 1915
Fate	Sold, and destroyed, 6–7 September 1915
General characteristics
Type	Sloop-of-war
Tonnage	1,022
Length	151 ft 10 in (46.28 m)
Beam	37 ft 3 in (11.35 m)
Draft	16 ft 6 in (5.03 m)
Propulsion	Sail
Complement	200 Naval officers and enlisted, 27 Marines
Armament	18 × medium 32-pounder guns 2 × Paixhans 64-pounder shell guns

The second USS Portsmouth was a wooden sloop-of-war in the United States Navy in service during the mid-to-late 19th century. She was designed by Josiah Barker on the lines of a French-built privateer, and built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, directly across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was described as an improvement over USS Saratoga built in the same shipyard a year earlier. Portsmouth was launched on 23 October 1843 and commissioned on 10 November 1844, with Commander John Berrien Montgomery in command.