USS Philadelphia 1776
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | USS Philadelphia | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1776 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 38.8912, -77.0295 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
USS Philadelphia was a 3-gun gundalow of the Continental Navy. She was constructed from July–August 1776 for service during the American Revolutionary War. Manned by Continental Army soldiers, she was part of a fleet under the command of General Benedict Arnold that fought against the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. Philadelphia was sunk during the battle on 11 October 1776.
In 1935, amateur military marine archaeologist Lorenzo Hagglund located her remains standing upright at the bottom of Lake Champlain. The wreck was raised to the surface and salvaged. In 1961 she was bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution. Philadelphia and associated artifacts are part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., where curator Philip K. Lundeberg was responsible for arranging her initial display. The vessel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
Diving & visiting
In the 1930s, Lorenzo Hagglund, a veteran of World War I and a history buff, began searching the strait for remains of the battle. In 1932 he found the remains of Royal Savage's hull, which he successfully raised in 1935. Hagglund discovered Philadelphia's remains in 1935, sitting upright on the lake bottom. He raised her that year; in addition to the guns and hull, hundreds of other items were recovered from the vessel. These relics included shot, cooking utensils, tools, buttons, buckles and human bones.
Philadelphia was exhibited at various locations on Lake Champlain and the Hudson River before becoming a long-term display at Exeter, New York.
Location
- Recorded position: 38.8912, -77.0295 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: United States
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Philadelphia (1776) (revision 1373462078), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Raising the wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
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Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Age of Sail