Commissioned in 1999, the Porter honors Commodore David Porter, one of the most audacious naval officers of the War of 1812 and the Pacific—and the father of Admiral David Dixon Porter, who commanded the Union fleet at Vicksburg. The two Porters represent a naval dynasty that shaped American sea power across the 19th century. The Porter is forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, serving as a ballistic missile defense platform in the eastern Atlantic.