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Most are unaware that their were metal hulled boats in the Civil War. Iron had already been in use for ship's hulls for over two decades when the civil war began. While wood was still the standard method of
construction for both ships and small craft, their iron counterparts were proving their advantages. Iron small craft were rare by comparison, and they were hated by
superstitious crews,. In one case, the 99 th New York Union Coast Guard Regiment even refused duty when assigned iron boats by the army.
In 1998 to see any boat a civil war reenactment was an even rarer site then a metal boat in the 1860's. The Western Gunboat Flotilla was then operating the steam launch Liberty and several other vessels were in various stages of readiness on the coasts. Interlake Steamship Company was preparing to convert a older steam ship, the J.L. Mauthe into a barge, and had placed her lifeboats in storage the year before. The boats were not fairing well on the ground in the shipyard at Superior, WI, and so they were approached about donating them to the Navy and Marine Living History Association, the WGF's former host incorporation.
With the gift of both boats, work started in earnest. A trailer was procured and conversion started. Out came the plywood, and in went a wooden structure more
similar to a ships boat of the 1860's. Modern features, such as flotation tanks, were retained for safety reasons. The two boats became the NMLHA Fife and NMLHA Drum and made their reenacting debut at Mobile, AL in 1999.
With the dissolution of the NMLHA's afloat assets in 2000, the Union Naval Historical Society was incorporated to hold title to the Fife. Renamed UNHS Wabash, for the river near her operational home, she has continued to serve along side the growing number of boats in reenacting, and is the flag ship of an association of boats that wear her black and white paint scheme and carry markings to indicate that they all came from the same ship. This facilitates boats from across the
country to assemble at events, yet give the impression they just rowed in from a vessel just out of sight.
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