Did the Statue of Liberty Float to America? No—It Was Shipped in Crates

Liberty's Journey: 350 Pieces on a French Ship

The Statue of Liberty did not float across the Atlantic. It was disassembled into 350 pieces, packed in 214 crates, and transported aboard the French frigate Isère.

Voyage Details

• Departure: Rouen, France, May 1885.
• Arrival: New York Harbor, June 17, 1885.
• Reassembly: 4 months on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) by ironworkers.
• Dedication: October 28, 1886.

Design for Transport

• Eiffel's iron armature allowed modular disassembly.
• Copper skin (2.4 mm thick) segmented into numbered panels.
• Crate weights: up to 2 tons; required heavy lift derricks.

Myth busted: She arrived in boxes, not as a floating colossus.