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The first US Brig Niagara was a brig in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.
Niagara was built at Presque Isle, Pennsylvania, along with her sister ship, the Lawrence by Adam and Noah Brown under the supervision of Sailing Master Daniel Dobbins and Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry, and was launched early in the summer of 1813.
Niagara and the other ships of Perry's squadron were held at Erie both by British blockade and lack of crews, until August 1, when the British squadron retired. The draft of the Niagara and the Lawrence was deeper than the depth of water over the bar at the mouth of the harbor. This necessitated striping all armament and stores of the ships and the ingenious use of camels (essentially large, strap-on ballast tanks) in order to get over the bar. Niagara reached deep water on August 5, and four days later her commanding officer, Captain Jesse D. Elliott, arrived with some 100 officers and men to take command. The squadron sailed in search of the British on August 12, located it in the mouth of the Detroit River, and waited for its sortie.
On 1813-09-10, the two fleets met in the Battle of Lake Erie. Perry led the US fleet aboard the Lawrence, which drew concentrated fire from the British until Lawrence became an unmanageable wreck. He then transferred to Niagara which had not closed the enemy in the earlier stages of the action. When Perry arrived on Niagara, he took command and brought Niagara into the attack. From her deck he regrouped his squadron and came down through the enemy line, Niagara pouring broadsides into the British ships until victory was secured, and with it control of Lake Erie, freeing the upper lakes from the threat of invasion.
Niagara covered the landings at the mouth of the Detroit River which captured Malden on September 23, then covered the Army's advance up the Detroit to Lake Saint Clair as they pursued the retreating British. After wintering at Erie, she returned to patrol and convoy operations which included the capture of British ships Mink, Nancy, Perseverance, and Batteau. She wintered at Erie once more in 1814, then served as receiving ship there until sunk in Misery Bay for preservation in 1820.
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