debnal

The guys at Naval Sea Systems Command will publish their analysis of the New Orleans soon. They have studied it for almost two years. They even put it through a Cat scan and the data developed from that will enable them to build a model of the model. It will have been the most studied ship model, ever. the model has given them a rare insight into ship building on the Lakes during the War of 1812. Al

"what an interesting vessel debnal! certainly looks eckford-esqe, and with some unusual features too! I can't quite tell if the bow is a beakhwad bulkhead or a round bow trying to be a beakhead, but it certainly looks different! unusual to have quarter galleries on the lowest gundeck of a ship of the line, and yet there is no poop deck either(though i suppose that was the norm in american battleships, and also the st. lawrence) probably the first example of a fully armed spardeck on a US SoL as well. looks like there is at least plenty of freeboard though. does the transom bear any resemblance to Pennsylvania's? fairly certain that is the only other to have two tiers of lights." Although this is a builder's model, the actual ship would have been built without the stern galleries and stern decorative treatment. The ship was being built in a very big hurry so those superfluous details would have been left off. The stern treatment on the model is very well done, and, according to some of the experts, as good as it got for an American design. Ekford employed a model maker for his designs and this appears to be the model for New Orleans and, possibly, Chippewa. One can only speculate what might have happened on Lake Ontario if the war had lasted even another six months. Both sides has many smaller ships and add the St Laurance (74), Canada (100+) plus new Orleans and Cheppewa (74-110) and Lafayette (130) and there would have been some kind of sea battle on Lake Ontario.

I should have said the scale was 1"=4'. The model, while depicting the New Orleans, does show characteristics that Ekford used in designing his follow on ship of the line- Ohio. The Oho was arguably the best ship of the line the US ever produced. The figurehead on the model is the same as was used on the Ohio. Al

Here is a picture of the model. Is definitely an Ekford design and designed to be a Lakes built ship. The scale is 1"=1' or 1:48. An interesting bit of history- during the Civil War the US said they would complete New Orleans and use her against Canada, if the British were to enter the war on the side of the Confederates. This was in response to the infamous Trent Affair. Al

I came to this forum by accident. I have knowledge of the USS New Orleans that no one else has. Maybe it will help. I own an admiralty hull model of the New Orleans that is 200 years old. In fact, it's the only known contemporary ship model of an American sailing ship known. She was designed to carry 106 guns. I know this because that is how many gunports on the model that have fittings for the cannons, She was designed by Henry Ekford, who also designed the Ohio. I would gladly post pictures of her if someone could tell me how to do this. Currently the model is being studied at the US Naval Ship Systems Command and the details will be published shortly. It is also interesting to note that the New Orleans and Chippewa were being built to counter the St Laurance. In fact, the British were building an even more powerful ship - Canada. The Americans were going to counter this with another huge design- Lafayette. The latter two ships were to be behemoths- 130 guns or more. If the war had lasted a year longer, there would have been a monumental sea battle on the lake that would have made all the sea battles in that war look like mere skirmishes . Al