 {|    |} 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 and built in portsmouth, new hampshire, on the lines of a french-built privateer. she was described as an improvement over the  built in the same shipyard a year earlier. the portsmouth was launched at the portsmouth navy yard on 23 october 1843 and commissioned on 10 november 1844, with commander john berrien montgomery in command. ==service history== ===mexican-american war, 1845&ndash;1848=== the portsmouth was an important ship during the mexican-american war, when her crew liberated the town of yerba buena, whose name was changed to san francisco in 1847. she set sail on 25 january 1845 from norfolk, virginia, on a cruise around cape horn to join the pacific squadron under the command of commodore john d. sloat. en route, she made stops in rio de janeiro, valparaiso, callao, the sandwich islands, and acapulco. to prevent the possibility of great britain acquiring california, she was initially engaged in protecting san francisco bay by watching the movements of british vessels off the california coast. after the declaration of war with mexico, a detachment of marines under the command of second lieutenant henry bulls watson rowed ashore and raised the american flag over yerba buena on 9 july 1846, seizing [[califor
1843_ships American_Civil_War_patrol_vessels_of_the_United_States Gunboats_of_the_United_States_Navy MexicanaAmerican_War_ships_of_the_United_States New_Hampshire_in_the_American_Civil_War Ships_built_in_New_Hampshire Ships_of_the_Union_Navy Shipwrecks_of_the_Massachusetts_coast Sloops_of_the_United_States_Navy United_States_Navy_New_Hampshire-related_ships United_States_Navy_Virginia-related_ships