USS Niagara ( 1813 ) The US Brig " Niagara or the Flagship " Niagara , is a wooden - hulled brig that served as the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812 . It is one of the last remaining ships from the War of 1812 . The " Niagara " is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in downtown Erie in the U . S . state of Pennsylvania as an outdoor exhibit for the museum , but travels the Great Lakes during the summer , serving as an ambassador of Pennsylvania when not docked . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was designated the official state ship of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1988 . The " Niagara " was constructed from 1812 to 1813 to protect the vulnerable American coastline on Lake Erie from the British and played a pivotal role in the battle for the lake . Along with most of warships that served in the war , the " Niagara " was sunk for preservation on Presque Isle in 1820 . Raised in 1913 , it was rebuilt for the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie . After deteriorating , restoration of the " Niagara " was started again in the 1930s , but was hampered by the lack of funds caused by the Great Depression and remained uncompleted until 1963 . A more extensive restoration was carried out in 1988 in which much of the original ship was largely destroyed . The incorporation of new materials and modern equipment makes it ambiguous as to whether it is or is not a replica . Construction . In the beginning of September 1812 , Daniel Dobbins , a merchant on the Great Lakes , arrived in Washington , D . C . to warn the United States government of the vulnerability of the Lake Erie coastline to a British attack . Dobbins had been captured by the British after a surprise attack at Fort Mackinac in Michigan , but was able to negotiate his release . Dobbins was briefly detained again by the British in Detroit after the city was captured . After several days of discussions with president James Madison and Secretary of the Navy Paul Hamilton , Dobbins convinced them that the safest place to build a fleet was in the sheltered bay formed by Presque Isle at Erie , Pennsylvania . On 15 September , Hamilton authorized Dobbins to construct four gunboats . Hamilton also granted $ 2 , 000 to be used for the construction and appointed Dobbins , a civilian , to the rank of sailing master in the United States Navy . On 31 December , Captain Isaac Chauncey , the commander of naval forces on Lake Ontario , arrived in Erie for a day , made some alterations to Dobbins ' ship design and authorized him to build , additionally , two brigs . Oliver Hazard Perry was promoted to Commodore in February 1813 and was given orders to report to Erie from Newport , Rhode Island . Perry arrived in Erie on 26 March , after being held up in Sackets Harbor , New York for two weeks by Chauncey in case of a possible attack by the British . The construction of the fleet was largely supervised by Noah Brown , a shipwright brought in from New York City . The keels of two brigs were each constructed out of a single black oak log . Due to a lack of iron , the timbers that made up the hulls were joined using wooden pins called treenail s . In place of the oakum and pitch normally used to caulk ships , lead was used . The timbers used in the brigs were still green , as the builders did not have the luxury of time to allow the wood to dry properly . A total of 65 cannons were shipped to Erie to arm the fleet ; Hamilton approved the production of 37 cannons by a foundry in Washington , D . C . and the rest were moved from Sackets Harbor . The " Tigress " and the " Porcupine " were launched in April 1813 , the " Scorpion " in May , and the brig " Lawrence " on 25 June . The " Niagara " was launched on 4 July along with the " Ariel " . One of the strategic advantages of building a fleet in Erie was that the bay formed by Presque Isle was cut off from the Lake Erie by a sandbar , which prevented British warships from being able to enter the bay . The brigs " Niagara " and " Lawrence " both had a draft of , which was too deep to cross the sandbar . On 4 August , the " Niagara " was pulled onto the sandbar using its anchor in a technique called kedging and was lightened by removing its cannons and ballast . A pair of barges , called " camels " , were placed on either side of the ship . The camels were sunk and secured to the " Niagara " . The water was pumped out of the camel , lifting the ship . By the following day , the " Niagara " was safely over the sandbar and was rearmed ; the " Lawrence " was floated over the sandbar a couple of days before the " Niagara " . During the construction , the area was usually under daily surveillance by the British . On the day the " Lawrence " crossed the sandbar , a pair of British warships , the " Queen Charlotte " and the " Lady Prevost " , observed for an hour and failed to notice the actions of Perry . War of 1812 . On 6 August , Perry ordered a shakedown cruise of the fleet , now totaling ten after the inclusion of three merchant vessels — the " Somers " , the " Trippe " and the " Ohio " — that were converted into warships and the " Caledonia " , which was captured from the British . Lieutenant Daniel Turner was placed in command of the " Niagara " for the cruise , as the fleet was still seriously undermanned ; Dobbins had even written a letter , directed to Secretary Hamilton , out of desperation back in December 1812 . Word arrived on 8 August that Jesse Elliott was en route to Erie from Black Rock , New York with 89 men . Elliott was promoted to commodore and given command of the " Niagara " after arriving in Erie on 10 August . On 17 August , Perry ' s fleet anchored off of Sandusky , Ohio , and dispatched a boat to inform General William Henry Harrison of their presence . Harrison and his staff met with Perry aboard the ships the next day and agreed to a rendezvous in Put - in - Bay . In Put - in - Bay , Harrison made available 100 " Kentucky and frontier riflemen " to serve on board as Marines . Before the fleet made a stopover at Fort Amherstburg , Canada to gather intelligence , where the British fleet , under the command of Commodore Robert Heriot Barclay , was based . While Perry ' s fleet was under construction , Barclay had ordered the construction of the , which was to be a match for the " Niagara " and the " Lawrence " . Unbeknownst to Perry , supplies in Fort Amherstburg were running out , as his fleet had cut off shipments from Long Point . Fearing an uprising caused by a shortage of food , Barclay and his fleet set sail as soon as the " Detroit " was complete . Battle of Lake Erie . On 10 September , both fleets got underway . The " Detroit " fired the first shot around noon , while still out of range . Perry formed the fleet into a line , with the larger ships each being assigned a target : the " Lawrence " to the " Detroit " , the " Niagara " to the " Queen Charlotte " , and the " Caledonia " to the " Hunter " . As the line moved to engage , the " Niagara " , under the command of Elliott , lagged behind the fleet . The cause of the failure of the " Niagara " to maintain formation is unknown , either deliberate on the part of Elliott , or because it was becalmed . After a couple of hours , all of the cannons on the " Lawrence " that were facing the British were out of commission and the brig could no longer be maneuvered . Perry lowered his battle flag , emblazoned with the last words of Captain James Lawrence , " Don ' t Give Up The Ship " , and transferred to the still - intact " Niagara " via a small rowboat . Perry took command of the " Niagara " and crossed the British line perpendicularly in a tactic called crossing the " T " . The " Queen Charlotte " , while attempting to prevent the " Niagara " from breaking through the line , collided with the " Detroit " and became entangled . The " Niagara " opened fire with both broadside s : the starboard broadside hitting the " Queen Charlotte " and the " Detroit " , and the port into the " Lady Prevost " . After several broadsides , the " Queen Charlotte " surrendered , followed shortly after by the " Detroit " and the rest of the British fleet . After the battle , the " Niagara " assisted in the transporting of Harrison ' s army to the mouth of the Detroit River in preparation for an invasion of southwest Ontario . On 25 April 1814 , command of the " Niagara " was transferred to Arthur Sinclair . After repairs , the fleet — consisting of the " Niagara " , the " Lawrence " , the " Caledonia " , the " Scorpion " and the " Tigress " — departed Erie for Detroit . In Detroit , soldiers under the command of Colonel George Croghan embarked with the fleet , bound for Mackinac Island . The fleet arrived on 26 July and landed on 4 August . The battle was ultimately lost , with Croghan being forced to retreat back to his boats . On 13 August , the fleet arrived at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River where they attacked a blockhouse owned by the North West Company . The blockhouse was destroyed by the British , along with the schooner " Nancy " , to prevent their supplies from being captured . After the Treaty of Ghent was signed , ending the war , the majority of the surviving ships that participated in the Battle of Lake Erie were disposed of in 1815 . The " Queen Charlotte " , the " Detroit " , and " Lawrence " were sunk for preservation in Misery Bay on Presque Isle , whereas the " Niagara " was kept afloat and operated as a receiving ship . It was sunk in 1820 when the naval station at Presque Isle was closed . Benjamin H . Brown of Rochester , New York bought all four ships in 1825 , but sold them in 1836 to George Miles of Erie . Miles raised the ships , planning on using them as merchant vessels . The " Lawrence " and the " Niagara " , not having a large enough hold and being in poor condition , were allowed to sink again . Centennial . As part of celebrations for the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie , the " Niagara " was raised from Misery Bay in April 1913 . Its keel was found to be in good enough condition for the brig to be rebuilt . Efforts to rebuild the " Niagara " were hampered by the lack of original plans . The restored " Niagara " was launched on 7 June , complete with a new bowsprit , rigging and reproduction cannons supplied by the Boston Navy Yard . From mid - July to mid - September , the " Niagara " was towed to various ports on the Great Lakes — including Milwaukee , Chicago , Detroit , Buffalo and Cleveland — by the USS " Wolverine " , the Navy ' s first iron - hulled warship . Ownership of the " Niagara " was transferred to the City of Erie in 1917 , where it remained docked deteriorating . The City of Erie transferred ownership of the " Niagara " to the newly formed " USS Niagara Foundation " in 1929 , which was tasked with " acquiring and restoring the ship and making it the centerpiece of a museum . " The onset of the Great Depression forced the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to take ownership , through the Flagship Niagara Commission , two years later . $ 50 , 000 was made available for another restoration in 1931 , but by 1938 the state stopped its funding , leaving the restoration unfinished . The " Niagara " was transferred to the Pennsylvania Historical Commission , predecessor of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission , and became a project for the Works Progress Administration . The Historical Commission contracted Howard I . Chapelle to draw up plans for another restoration of the " Niagara " , based on other period ships that were built by Noah Brown , like the " Saratoga " . According to Chapelle , very little of the original " Niagara " remained , as parts of it had been sold as souvenirs , and the 1913 reconstruction was not accurate to the period . The hull of the " Niagara " was launched in October 1943 without any masts , spar s , or rigging . It was placed in a concrete cradle in 1951 . Discovery of dry rot throughout every part of the " Niagara " made it clear that a complete reconstruction would eventually be needed . Funds were appropriated by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to make the " Niagara " " presentable " for the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1963 with the addition of rigging and cannons . The " Niagara " was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 11 April 1973 . Museum ship . In 1981 , the Flagship Niagara League was formed with intent of reconstructing the " Niagara " so that it would be a working ship , instead of an " outdoor museum piece " . The organization was eventually incorporated a non - profit organization associated with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission . Melbourne Smith , builder of the " Pride of Baltimore " , was hired in 1986 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to head the reconstruction . The decay of the " Niagara " was so bad that it was dismantled and ultimately destroyed , with various timbers salvaged and used in non - structural areas of the ship . The destruction of the old ship and use of new wood often leads the " Niagara " to be considered a replica . While the first " Niagara " was built hurriedly , the new " Niagara " was built out of properly seasoned and preserved yellow pine and Douglas fir . The new " Niagara " was launched on 10 September 1988 , but was not completed until 18 July 1990 when its sea trials were held . The Pennsylvania General Assembly designated the " Niagara " as the official flagship of Pennsylvania on 29 April 1988 and described its purpose as being a " sailing ambassador for Pennsylvania " . In March 2008 , the yellow pine mainmast was replaced with one of Douglas fir . The " Niagara " is one of two remaining vessels that served in the War of 1812 , the second being the USS " Constitution " . The United States Coast Guard certified the " Niagara " as a Sailing School Vessel in August 2005 . For safety reasons , the " Niagara " was equipped with modern equipment such as auxiliary diesel engines , lifeboats , radar , LORAN and radio . The " Niagara " was also depicted on a commemorative Pennsylvania license plate . In 2009 , the Flagship Niagara League assumed day - to - day management of the " Niagara " after a decision by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to cut $ 250 , 000 to fill a budget deficit . The " Niagara " was used to depict the whaleship " Essex " in an episode of the Public Broadcasting Service documentary series " American Experience " . As part of the bicentennial of the Battle of Lake Erie , the " Niagara " took part in a reenactment of the battle on September 2 , 2013 in Put - In - Bay along with 16 other tall ship s .