Description

US Navy steam frigate, designed by George Steers and launched in the Brooklyn Navy yard, February 23, 1855. In 1858, layed half of the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable to mid-ocean to be spliced with the other half layed by a HMS Agamemnon. In 1858, by order of Congress, Niagara transported slaves captured by the USS Dolphin back to Monrovia -- only 200 of over 400 suvived the ordeal. From 1860 to 1861, Niagara carried Japan's first diplomatic mission to the USA. From 1861 to 1865, Niagara participated in the US Civil War in blockade duty off South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and engaged in other actions. After refitting in the Boston Navy Yard in 1862 she sailed to Europe to patrol for southern warships being repaired or built in Europe. She remained in the European Squadron until the end of the Civil War and was decommission in the Boston Navy Yard on September 28th 1865.

Niagara sailed from New York on 22 April 1857 for England, arriving Gravesend on 14 May. A log of the ship's voyage across the Atlantic[1] was kept by the correspondent of the New York Daily Times, where it was published on Thursday, 14 May 1857. On arrival in England Niagara was equipped to lay cable for the first transatlantic telegraph, which was to follow the shallow tableland discovered between Newfoundland and Ireland by Matthew F. Maury. By 11 August, when a break in the cable defied recovery, she had laid several hundred miles westward from Valentia Island, Ireland. She returned to New York 20 November and decommissioned 2 December to prepare for a second essay at cable-laying. Recommissioning 24 February 1858, Captain William L. Hudson in command, she sailed 8 March, arrived Plymouth, England, 28 March, and experimented with HMS Agamemnon. The ships returned to Plymouth to fit out, then made a mid-ocean rendezvous on 29 July, spliced their cable ends, and each sailed toward her own continent. On 5 August, Niagara's boats carried the end of the cable ashore at Brills Mouth Island, Newfoundland, and the same day Agamemnon landed her end of the cable. The first message flashed across 16 August, when Queen Victoria sent a cable to President James Buchanan. This first cable operated for three weeks; ultimate success came in 1866.