The November program meeting of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society featured an interesting talk by Edd Hale on his experience as a volunteer sailor on the USS Niagara. It was his second visit to the Society; last March he gave a memorable presentation on “The Great Castle Shannon Bank Robbery”.
The original USS Niagara was one of six warships constructed by Noah Brown in Erie in 1813 as part of a battle fleet assembled to contest the British naval supremacy in the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. The Niagara and her sister brig, the Lawrence, both had drafts that were too big to permit them to cross the sandbar protecting the Erie port from Lake Erie. When their construction was completed, they were floated over the sandbar by temporarily attaching large floatation devices called “camels” on each side.
The Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, resulted in a complete victory for the American fleet led by Oliver Hazard Perry as reported to General William Henry Harrison – “We have met the enemy and they are ours, two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.” The Niagara played a key role in the battle when Perry transferred his flag to her following severe damage to his flagship, the Lawrence.
Following the war the Niagara was purposely sunk in Misery Bay at Erie. She was raised as part of the celebration of the Centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie and functioned as an historic relic until the 1970s when rot finally got the best of her. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission had a replica built in 1988 which now serves as a “sailing ambassador for Pennsylvania”.
Technically the Niagara is a brig, a sailing vessel with two square rigged masts. The mainmast is the aft one and is somewhat taller than the foremast. The term square rigged denotes the fact that the mainsails are carried on horizontal spars, called yards, “square” (at right angles) to the masts. The speaker pointed out that the term “yardarm” refers to the part of the yard extending beyond the end of the sail.
The Niagara has a hull length of 123 feet, with a sparred length of 198 feet. Her beam is 32 feet; her draft, 10′ – 9″. Her displacement is 297 tons. The mainmast is 118 – 4″ high, the foremast, 113′ – 4″. The original vessel carried eighteen carronades and two “chasers”. The chasers are long guns mounted on wheels so they can be located at the bow or stern. They fired twelve pound balls accurately at long ranges. The carronades were located semi-permanently, nine on each side. They fired thirty two pound balls at short range.
In 1813 the Niagara had a crew of 155 men and officers, most of which served the twenty guns (six men per gun). At the Battle of Lake Erie the Niagara also took on two squads of Marines (eighteen Kentucky riflemen). The current Niagara has a crew of twenty professional officers and sailors, supplemented by twenty volunteers. Her sailing schedule is May through September. The Niagara regularly sails the four western Great Lakes and, via the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River as far as Quebec City. The Museum is open year around.
Mr. Hale has volunteered as a crewman on the Niagara for the past nine years and gave an very positive report on the experience. He was particularly proud of a photograph of him high in the rigging on one of the foremast yards. Made me wish I were 75 again! Another photo showed him bent over in the space below decks where the headroom at his hammock is only five feet.
His discussion of the Niagara included a tutorial on nautical terms. The “rigging” consists of standing lines and running lines. Standing lines are the guy lines that support the masts. Those running fore and aft are called stays; laterally, shrouds. The running lines (a total of 190) are used to raise and lower the sails. The Niagara has eight miles of lines, one third of which is replaced each year.
The replica brig is equipped with two modern 180 horsepower Diesel engines, although she still could be propelled by rowing a dozen long sweeps. Her anchor weighs 1900 pounds and is raised and lowered by a six inch diameter cable using a ten armed capstan.
Mr. Hale is an enthusiastic supporter of the Niagara and of the experience of volunteering as a sailor on her. He strongly recommended a visit to her museum and a four hour Day Sail on her next summer.
There will be no program meeting for the Historical Society in December; the next scheduled program will be presented in a Sunday afternoon meeting at 1:30 pm on January 28, 2018. Dr. John Auberle’s subject is “A Lion in the White House: A Biography of Teddy Roosevelt”. The meeting will be in the Chartiers Room of the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department, on Commercial Street in Bridgeville.