Derek Schneider spent a week and a half of sleepless nights working on old photos and artist renderings to create a virtual app so visitors to Welland Museum's latest exhibit can see what a working War of 1812 warship looked like from all angles.

Schneider, of Pelham-based Nauta Design Group, made a three-dimensional model of HMS General Hunter, which was lost to the U.S. navy during a battle on the western end of Lake Erie on Sept. 10, 1813.

The battle led by Cmdr. Oliver Hazard Perry saw a total of six British vessels, including the General Hunter, attacked by a fleet of nine American vessels.

Schneider, who has a background in TV and film, said people who came to the museum Saturday for the opening of HMS General Hunter exhibit had a number of options to view the warship, found in 2001 on a beach in Southampton, Ont.

"People can see it on tablets, a laptop and through the VR headsets."

Schneider said he and the museum have talked about finding a way to put the exhibit online so people can interact it with it from their homes.

Museum manager Penny Morningstar said the virtual experience is something new for the museum and could easily be added to other exhibits in the future. It came about, she said, after the museum put out a call for local draftspeople to help come up with something different for the exhibit.

Nauta Design Group's Hank Nauta approached the museum and talked about trying something with three-dimensional modelling and virtual reality. The company came on board as a corporate sponsor for the exhibit.

"It's a hit with young people and with those for a passion for ships and shipwrecks," Morningstar said of the virtual tour. "It's a new world to us."

She said it's all about the experience, making sure visitors have a better one and take something away, rather than just walking through the museum and looking at an exhibit.

As for the exhibit itself, that was due in part to marine archeologist Ken Cassavoy.

"He came to me and introduced himself and said we wanted to talk to me about this great discovery … about a ship he excavated," said Morningstar.

She said Cassavoy, now a museum board member, spoke about the General Hunter and the work that went into excavating it on the beach beside Lake Huron.

"It was an amazing story, and who doesn't love old ships, especially from 1812."

Morningstar said the story was more amazing once she learned that artifacts were found with the ship, more than 200 years after it was lost to a storm on the lake.

Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre, home to the exhibit, loaned interpretive panels covering the discovery, excavation and identification of HMS General Hunter; and a specially-constructed replica of the hull. There's also a canon on display as well.

Morningstar said there are also displays from the Hamilton and Scourge, two vessels pressed into service during the War of 1812. Both vessels foundered in Lake Ontario during a sudden squall just after midnight on Aug. 8, 1813, and now rest nearly 100 metres under the lake off Niagara's shore.

Morningstar said the exhibit runs until December, with some pieces headed back to the Bruce County Museum throughout the summer.

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Welland Museum is at 140 King St. and is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Nathaniel.Johnson@niagaradailies.com

905-684-7251 | @DaveJTheTrib