Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I tīmata a Porter ki te mahi kaipuke hei kaitiaki i te 10 o nga tau i raro i tona papa, Commodore David Porter, i runga i te kaipuke. Mo te toenga o tona oranga, i honoa ia ki te moana. I mahi a Porter i te Pakanga o Mexico i te whakaeke ki te pa kaha i te Taone nui o Vera Cruz. I te pakarutanga o te Pakanga Tangata, he waahanga ia o te mahere ki te pupuri i a Fort Pickens, tata ki Pensacola, Florida, mo te Uniana; ko tana mahi i whakararu i te kaha ki te whakaora i te hoia i Fort Sumter, i arahi ki te hinga o Sumter. I whakahaua e Porter he kaipuke motuhake o nga poti moutere i te hopu o New Orleans. I muri mai, i eke ia ki te taumata o (te mahi) te kaitautoko i roto i te whakahau o te Mississippi River Squadron, i mahi tahi me te ope i raro i te Major General Ulysses S. Grant i te Campaign Vicksburg. Whai muri i te hinganga o Vicksburg, i arahi ia i nga ope moana i te pakanga uaua o te Awa Whero i Louisiana. I te mutunga o te tau 1864, i whakawhitihia a Porter mai i te rohe o roto ki te takutai o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, i reira ia i arahi ai i te US Navy i nga whakaekenga tahi ki
Ko Fort Fisher, te mahi nui whakamutunga o te pakanga.