He was the son of a naval officer, and nephew of David Porter of the frigate "Essex."
The most easterly island is Frigate, the most southerly Platte; on the northern edge of the reef are Bird and Denis islands.
When the Greeks tried to organize a regular navy he was appointed captain of the frigate "Hellas" in 1826.
His capture of the Spanish frigate "El Gamo" (32) on the 6th of May 1801 was indeed a feat of unparalleled audacity.
He visited the Azores and the Canary Islands, of which he constructed an admirable map. In 1782 his frigate was taken by a British squadron; he himself was carried to England, but was almost immediately released on parole and returned to France.
