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| Niagara |
The replica U.S. Brig Niagara is a museum ship and
sail training vessel located in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Erie
Maritime Museum. She is a replica of the original US Brig Niagara,
a brig which played a pivotal role in the Battle of Lake Erie and
the victory of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry during the War of 1812.
The original Niagara was sunk in 1820 in Misery Bay on
Presque Isle, PA for preservation. Owned successively by Benjamin H.
Brown of Rochester, New York, and Captain George Miles of Erie,
Niagara was raised but found to need such extensive restoration
that she was again allowed to sink. She was raised again on March 6,
1913 and restored by the Perry Centennial Commission, which towed
her from Buffalo, New York to Chicago, Illinois for exhibition at
all the larger towns of Lakes Huron and Michigan during the
commemoration of the Battle of Lake Erie. Returning to Erie on
September 21, 1913, she was cribbed up just out of the water,
deteriorating until 1929, when restoration was begun by the
Niagara Association of Erie, aided by the Pennsylvania
Historical Commission and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The
project halted for lack of funds in 1934, but was finally completed
in 1963 for the sesquicentennial of her great victories.
In 1988,
a more extensive reconstruction was undertaken to restore the ship
to sailing condition. The ship was completely rebuilt from the keel
up, by Melbourne Smith, using period ship-building techniques. Some
original wood was retained, but only in non-structural areas,
leading many authorities to classify the current Niagara as a
replica rather than a reconstruction. The National Park Service,
however, considers the vessel to be a reconstruction of the
original. (See also Ship of Theseus.) Today's Niagara is
built to be "modernly historic," having the appearance and feel of
the original, but meeting modern Coast Guard regulations, with
water-tight bulkheads, modern emergency equipment, and twin diesel
engines.
Today, the Niagara is used to educate the public on the
War of 1812 and the Battle of Lake Erie. She serves as the flagship
of the "Niagara Fleet", with a crew of professionals and
volunteers joining her on many of her voyages to distant ports.She typically flies a War of 1812-era United States flag, the
state flag of Pennsylvania, and Perry's famous "Dont [sic] Give Up
the Ship" flag. |
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