The Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry Will Make Newport, Rhode Island its Home Port
NEWPORT, RI (July 7, 2008) — Tall Ships Rhode Island, Inc., (TSRI) has announced it is well on its way to making the dream of a Tall Ship for Newport and Rhode Island come true. The Newport-based, non-profit organization, which has brought several magnificent Tall Ships events to Newport’s shores over the past decade and a half, will purchase the steel hull of a majestic 207 ft. three-masted, full-rigged ship from a Canadian group and will transform it into a dynamic and vital symbol of Rhode Island’s maritime history. To be named after Newport’s famous naval hero, the Tall Ship Oliver Hazard Perry has a completion date of 2010, but its hull will arrive on Rhode Island shores as early as this September.
“We have raised over half of the $400,000 needed to close on the purchase of the ship’s hull this August,” said TSRI’s Chairman Bart Dunbar, who is also president of Bowen’s Wharf Company.
“Securing the hull puts us a good two years and well over $1 million ahead of the game compared to if we had to start from scratch to build a Tall Ship.” Dunbar explained that TSRI has spent much of the last six months overseeing the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard’s stringent surveys of the hull and negotiating its purchase from Amherstburg, Ontario. That city had intended that the hull be the start of its own replica of the HMS Detroit, a royal naval vessel built there in 1812 to defend Lake Erie. Unfortunately, the project lost political and community support but not before $1.5 million had been invested in making the hull a reality. The project was far enough along that it behooved representatives from both Amherstburg and Newport to work together to make the new incarnation of the ship–the Oliver Hazard Perry–a success story.
“From the Governor’s office to the Newport County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (NCCVB) to the Newport City Council to the International Yacht Restoration School, there is great interest and unity in making this happen,” said Dunbar. “The historic ties this ship has to Newport and the state is what gets the adrenalin flowing, but it’s the long-term vision that is most important.”
Dunbar explained that when the vessel is completed, the plans are not to simply tie it up at the dock for show–that kind of vessel doesn’t pay its way. Instead, the Oliver Hazard Perry will be a working vessel, supporting itself with educational and sail training programs, with an office, staff and crew that has a budget of $1 million each year. While it will ply New England waters and travel to Canada and the Great Lakes during the summer, it also will venture to the Caribbean in winter, and hopes are that it will play a significant role in the country’s planned Bicentennial Celebration of the War of 1812.
In 1813, Commodore Perry, born in Rhode Island, captured the HMS Detroit in the famous Battle of Lake Erie. He reported, “We have met the enemy and they are ours” after that victory, which ensured American control of the lake for the remainder of the War of 1812. Perry carried into that battle a flag emblazoned with “Don’t Give Up the Ship!,” the original of which still exists and inspires at its place in Memorial Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy and copies of which are frequently seen in Newport during major patriotic holidays. Commodore Perry’s famous younger brother, Matthew Calbraith Perry, is credited with opening Japan to trade with the West in the 1850s, which Newport and Shimoda, Japan, celebrate as Sister Cities. It is hoped that a similar relationship with Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada, might be possible.
“From colonial times to the present, Rhode Island has been a leader in our nation’s naval and maritime affairs,” said Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri. “Tall Ships Rhode Island is focusing its expertise in our maritime heritage by acquiring and reconfiguring a vessel to be known as the Oliver Hazard Perry — the new Ocean State-based Sail Training Ship.” Carcieri added that all Rhode Islanders will take pride in the acquisition and refurbishing of the ship. “She is truly worthy of our endorsement. I applaud the efforts of the members of Tall Ships Rhode Island in embarking on a new initiative that offers sail training and a unique educational opportunity….”
According to TSRI Vice-Chairman Perry Lewis, after the hull is purchased, it will be towed here from Canada through the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. It will spend several months at Blount Marine in Warren, R.I., getting a deck and interior squared away, then move to the Newport Shipyard where its spars, rigging and hardware will be configured and installed.
“For perspective on the magnitude of the project,” said Lewis, “there are six to seven miles of rigging needed for the ship, which when completed will stand more than 13 stories tall. It will be a work in progress for the public, including school children, to enjoy, and the marine industry to rally behind.”
Serving as executive director of the Oliver Hazard Perry project is Captain Richard Bailey, former captain and director of the 179 ft. HMS Rose when it was the largest active wooden Tall Ship in the world. TSRI’s appointment of Bailey is especially pertinent since the Oliver Hazard Perry, when completed, will replace the HMS Rose as the only working Class-A (over 160 ft.) ship with U.S. Coast Guard certification under the Sailing School Vessel Regulations. There are about 75 Class A vessels engaged in sail training worldwide and this number is growing as state and private organizations realize the benefits as well as the financial viability of operating a Tall Ship. The only other Class A sail training ship in America is the Coast Guard’s German-built barque Eagle.
Another key player on the TSRI Board is Vice Admiral Tom Weschler (USN Ret), the driving force behind the Tall Ships organization since 1992. “For the people of Rhode Island, this is about rescuing a reminder of our heritage and turning it into a symbol of strength for the community while at the same time developing and teaching sea-oriented educational programs,” he said, noting successful sail training programs on Tall Ships representing such other states as South Carolina (the 140-foot Spirit of South Carolina), Virginia (the 122-foot Virginia) and Maryland (the 157-foot Pride of Baltimore).
During the 1800s, the cost to build the HMS Detroit is estimated to have been about $2,800. Tall Ships Rhode Island projects it will have spent closer to $4 million by the time the Oliver Hazard Perry is ready to sail.
And while some might say these economic times are not the best for such an ambitious project, TSRI Board members and city and state representatives think just the opposite. “The Oliver Hazard Perry’s presence in Newport will significantly enhance the view along the historic waterfront–her tall mast and seemingly endless rigging a symbol of Newport’s rich maritime history,” said NCCVB President and CEO Evan Smith. “In addition to its maritime training focus, the ship will serve as a floating ambassador, promoting tourism for our city and state in every port she visits.”
For more information on the Oliver Hazard Perry, contact Bart Dunbar at 401-849-2243 or Perry Lewis at 401.841.0080. The TSRI office is located at 49B Bowen’s Wharf, Newport, R.I., 02840