The three masted wood schooner E.M. Portch was built in DePere, Wisconsin in 1867. The vessel was valued at $10,000 and rated at A 2 1/2. In 1874 & 1875 the value was listed as $17,000 and rated at A2.

1869: Had sunk the schooner Geraldine in Lake Erie.

November 18, 1871: Went ashore on Beaver Island, towed off and sank. Later raised and repaired at Manitowoc.

September, 1880: Collided with the schooner Negaunee off Kewanee. Towed to Manitowoc for repairs.

November, 1881: Struck reef at South Point, proceeded to Milwaukee to repair leaks.

December, 1881: While in tow of the tug Parker, struck a reef near the Sturgeon Bay Ship canal, was later released.

Last Document Of Enrollment Surrendered: Chicago: 8/21/1883: "Vessel Lost".
March 27, 1882: The three masted schooner E.M. Portch of Chicago was run down by the steam barge Leland while inbetween Centerville, Wisconsin and Sheboygan, about fifteen miles northeast of Sheboygan. The Portch was light at the time bound from Chicago for Rowley's Bay to load cedar for S.A. Rogers. A hole so large had been stove in the bow of the Portch presenting the danger of her foundering. As a result the Leland towed the Portch to within one mile of the piers at Sheboygan where she anchored. The lifesaving crew managed to board the vessel and found her half full of water. They rescued the remaining crew that hadn't left in the Portch's yawl and proceeded to start pumping water, let her anchors slip and tow her towards Sheboygan. When within three hundred yards of the harbor, the schooner sank in 12 feet of water. Later, a gale drove the wreck against the piers at Sheboygan, breaking up the vessel.
The Milwaukee Tug Company spent several months trying to recover her, without success.