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A replica of the historic USS Niagara is back in the water after undergoing nearly $7 million in restorations. The warship helped win a major victory on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. The vessel relaunched this week and will soon return to its home port in beautiful Erie, Pennsylvania, just in time for events marking America's 250th anniversary celebration. NPR's Scott Neuman reports.
ROSS BRANCH: Is that working? Hold.
SCOTT NEUMAN, BYLINE: It's the day before Niagara's relaunch after months in dry dock, and last-minute preparations are in overdrive at Boothbay Harbor in Maine. Ross Branch is the head shipwright at Bristol Marine, which has one of the few yards in the U.S. equipped to handle a ship like Niagara. He's shoving a bronze water intake into the underside of the hull while a worker inside fastens it in place. It's smeared up with a thick layer of marine sealant known as Sikaflex.
BRANCH: We're launching tomorrow, and Sikaflex can cure underwater. So it's a good choice in this instance.
Ready?
NEUMAN: The through-hull attaches to a water-cooled generator - just one of the many concessions to modernity aboard Niagara, which also got new engines. The Niagara is a 20-gun two-masted brig. Captain Greg Bailey explains the original ship was built in a big rush on Lake Erie to meet the British threat.
GREG BAILEY: They only needed it for one summer, whether it was going to be captured or destroyed or victorious.
NEUMAN: In fact, in September 1813, it was victorious. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and a small fleet led by Niagara defeated the British, securing the Great Lakes and America's northern frontier. Today's Niagara is technically a replica, but it still carries some of the ship's original pieces and, Bailey says, the spirit of Perry's flagship.
BAILEY: It's the people that sail the ship. It's the mission of the ship. And it's still very much the same ship, so replica, rebuild.
NEUMAN: In a few weeks, Niagara heads back to its home port at Erie Maritime Museum. But Captain Greg Bailey won't be aboard. He's leaving for another position. Captain Richard Bailey - no relation - will be taking the helm. Other crew changes include Lillian Kiser Taylor. She's Niagara's newly hired third mate.
LILLIAN KISER TAYLOR: Three of us arrived in Erie about a month ago, varnishing some spars. And then we got here about two weeks ago, three weeks ago and have been readying the boat to get underway...
NEUMAN: Yeah.
KISER TAYLOR: ...To splash and then take her back to Erie.
NEUMAN: Kiser Taylor hails from Tucson, Arizona. But she is looking forward to a summer on the Great Lakes, where Niagara is used to teach kids to sail. She only learned to sail herself a few years ago. She says she loves tall ships, but traditional square sails are a lot of work.
KISER TAYLOR: To set a square, you have to climb aloft. And that kind of just completely changes your outlook on sailing, just becomes something that's a part of your life. You're in the sky all the time.
NEUMAN: The next day, and it's time for Niagara to make a splash - at least metaphorically. Forget smashing champagne bottles and a ship hurdling into the water.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHIP CHAINS CLUNKING)
BRANCH: That's enough. That's it.
UNIDENTIFIED SHIPYARD EMPLOYEE: Heading down.
NEUMAN: Instead, the signal is given, and the hull is slowly eased into the harbor by a massive chain connected to a cradle running on rails. There are no huzzahs to be heard. Just quiet satisfaction that the work is done and that the Niagara will soon return to Lake Erie, the waters that made it famous more than two centuries ago.
Scott Neuman, NPR News, Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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