Lake Champlain
Two centuries of lake commerce preserved in cold water
Lake Champlain saw military fleets in 1776 and 1814 and a century of canal-boat commerce after the Champlain Canal opened in 1823.
From Benedict Arnold's gunboats to sailing canal boats, steamboats and stone schooners, Champlain's wrecks span nearly the whole history of American inland navigation. The lake's cold fresh water preserves wooden hulls so well that several sites are now protected underwater historic preserves.
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Records in These Waters
Historical ListingBoscawen
AH-WR-0929Fort Ticonderoga, New York
Abandoned and sank at the King's Shipyard near Fort Ticonderoga after the Seven Years' War; the exact year is not established in the sources reviewed. · Sloop Of War
RegisteredBurlington Bay Horse Ferry
AH-WR-0299Burlington, Vermont
Sank or was abandoned sometime after horse ferries fell out of use in the mid-19th century; exact date unknown · Horse-Powered Ferry · 50 ft deep
AvailableCanal Sloop (Wreck C)
AH-WR-0436Lake Champlain, New York shore
Date not established · Sailing Canal Boat
AvailableChamplain II
AH-WR-0251Westport, New York
1875 · Passenger Steamboat
AvailableCoal Barge (probable A.R. Noyes)
AH-WR-0848Shelburne Point, Lake Champlain
1884 · Canal Boat · 60-80 deep
AvailableDiamond Island Stone Boat
AH-WR-0845Diamond Island, Lake Champlain
Exact date unknown; 19th century · Canal Boat · 12-20 deep
Historical ListingEagle
AH-WR-0931Whitehall, New York
Laid up after the war and moved into the Poultney River around 1820, where the hull was allowed to sink; the precise date is not established in the sources reviewed. · Brig
RegisteredExcelsior
AH-WR-0930Burlington, Vermont
Sunk in the fall of 1884 near the mouth of the Pine Street Canal, Burlington; the exact date is not established in the sources reviewed. · Lake Schooner
RegisteredGeneral Butler
AH-WR-0163Burlington, Vermont
1876 · Sailing Canal Schooner · 40 ft deep
AvailableIsle La Motte Canal Sloop (Wreck UU)
AH-WR-0435Isle La Motte, Vermont
1846 · Canal Sloop
AvailableL.A. Hall
AH-WR-1946Barbers Point, New York
1878 · Canal Boat
AvailableL.J.N. Stark
AH-WR-1948Point Au Roche, New York
1870 · Steam Towboat
AvailableO. J. Walker
AH-WR-0164Burlington, Vermont
1895 · Sailing Canal Schooner · 65 ft deep
AvailablePhoenix
AH-WR-0168Colchester, Vermont
1819 · Sidewheel Steamboat · Shallow shoal water deep
AvailablePot Ash Point Canal Boat
AH-WR-0847Pot Ash Point, Lake Champlain
Date and cause of sinking unknown · Canal Boat · 35 ft deep
AvailableProvidence Island Canal Sloop
AH-WR-0846Providence Island, Lake Champlain
Date of loss unknown · Canal Boat · 85+ deep
AvailableRoosevelt II
AH-WR-1950Lake Champlain
1959; exact date not established. · Ferry
Historical ListingRoyal Savage
AH-WR-1491Valcour Island, New York
1776 · Schooner
AvailableSailing Canal Boat Troy (Wreck SS)
AH-WR-0434Westport, New York
November 1825 · Sailing Canal Boat
AvailableSarah Ellen
AH-WR-0166Willsboro, New York
1860 · Schooner · About 300 feet (reported) deep
AvailableShoreham Sloop
AH-WR-0433Shoreham, Vermont
circa 1825, early Champlain Canal era · Sailing Canal Boat
AvailableSloop Island Canal Boat (Wreck Z)
AH-WR-0437Charlotte, Vermont
Circa 1915-1920 · Standard Canal Boat · 90 ft deep
Historical ListingSpitfire
AH-WR-0167Valcour Island, New York
1776 · Gundalow Gunboat · Deep water beyond recreational diving range deep
AvailableU.S. La Vallee
AH-WR-0849Shelburne Bay, Lake Champlain
Year known; exact date not established · Tugboat
Historical ListingUSS Confiance
AH-WR-0298Whitehall, New York
1820 · Frigate
AvailableVergennes
AH-WR-1947Lake Champlain, New York
November 1853; exact day not established. · Canal Boat
AvailableWater Witch
AH-WR-0165Vergennes, Vermont
1866 · Schooner · 90 ft deep
AvailableWm. H. McAllister
AH-WR-1949Schuyler Island, New York
1963 · Tugboat
