Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
yep, the rush-bagot treaty allowed for each side to maintain only one naval ship below niagara, and one naval ship above niagara, "to keep the peace".
this was a drastic reduction from the large naval fleets both sides built on the lakes, above and below niagara, during the war of 1812, and in effect it rightfully demilitarized the great lakes.
today, all we have on the lakes are about a dozen coast guard ice breakers/buoy tenders equipped with machine guns for law enforcement purposes, with a similar number of coast guard cutters on the canadian side. they can engage in minor counter-terrorism/smuggling stuff if need be, but would not fall under any reasonable definition of a proper "military ship".
there are no longer any commissioned naval vessels on either side that are stationed on the lakes, though occasionally the navy does send a frigate/LCS up the seaway on a goodwill/recruiting tour around the lakes. and as i've mentioned previously, the US navy's freedom class LCS ships, and the soon to be built constellation class frigates, are built on lake michigan at Marinette, WI and then sailed down the seaway to the bases they're to be stationed at.
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Interesting stuff. I faintly recall the Rush-Bagot treaty name from history class, but its topic was long lost to my memory. Didn't realize the connection with my hometown's
Wolverine.
I always liked (and still do) seeing those Navy ships on those goodwill/recruiting visits when I was a kid. My dad was always good about taking me to see stuff like that. As I've likely mentioned before, I spent my summers on the water... my dad had an old 1950s Chris Craft cabin cruisier that he always was working on (obviously
), and I would accompany him down to the gritty marina right smack in the middle of Erie's heavily-industrial bayfront. My grandfather, who worked on the docks as a shipbuilder, would sometimes come down too and take me around the docks and onto some of the ships, since he knew a lot of the guys down there. It definitely had an impact in making me a boatnerd.