History
The Niagara was built at Presque Isle (Erie), PA., by Adam and Noah Brown. Launched in the summer of 1813. It was commissioned in August 1813 with CAPT. Jesse D. Elliott in command. The Niagara served as Captain Oliver H. Perry's relief flagship after US Brig Lawrence became an unmanageable wreck during the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813. From 1814 to 1820 Niagara served as a receiving ship (usually an obsolete or unseaworthy ship moored at a navy yard and used for new recruits or men in transit between stations) at Erie until sunk in Misery Bay for preservation in 1820. Raised on 6 March 1913, and restored by the Perry Centennial Commission, the Niagara was displayed in Lakes Huron and Michigan during the commemoration of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1913. The Niagara was not fit to sail so it was towed by a tugboat to all the celebration locations. She was returned to Erie on 21 September 1913, to be cribbed up out of the water, and deteriorating until 1929. The second restoration started but was halted for lack of funds in 1934, finally completed in 1963 for the sesquicentennial of her great victories. The destruction of the old ship and use of new wood often leads Niagara to be considered a replica. While the first Niagara was built hurriedly with green lumber, the new Niagara was built out of properly seasoned and preserved yellow pine and Douglas fir plus twin diesel engines. The new Niagara was launched on 10 September 1988, but was not completed until 18 July 1990 when its sea trials were held. The new Niagara has some wood from the original in nonstructural parts of the ship.
The original photo(s), some being over 100+ years old, have been restored using photo restoration software to improve quality to better than the original photograph. Also, some photos have been colorized using software reconditioning process. This works for some but not every photo. Restoration and colorization is dependent on the quality of the original photo and the quality of camera that took the picture.