Spitfire
Gundalow Gunboat · United States · Lost 1776 · Lake Champlain
One of Benedict Arnold's hastily built 1776 gunboats, she fought at Valcour Island and sank during the retreat; her hull survives upright.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Spitfire was one of eight gunboats built in 1776 at Skenesborough, New York, for Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet. She fought at the Battle of Valcour Island on October 11, 1776, and sank two days later during the American fleet's overnight retreat. The wreck was the last unaccounted-for vessel of the battle until the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum located her intact in 1997. She is protected under the Sunken Military Craft Act, and her position is withheld from the public.
Vessel
- 1776
- Not established
- Skenesborough (now Whitehall), New York
- Wood
- 53 ft
- 15.5 ft
- Not established
- Sail and oar
- Continental Navy, Lake Champlain squadron
Loss
- October 13, 1776
- Enemy action
- Lake Champlain, New York waters
- Lake Champlain
- Valcour Bay → Crown Point, New York
- Not established
- Not established
- No confirmed casualty count for this vessel's loss survives.
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Deep water beyond recreational diving range
- Reported intact and upright with the mast standing and the bow gun in place.
- Not established
- 1997
- Protected under the Sunken Military Craft Act; National Register of Historic Places
Position
- Not established
- Position withheld to protect the site
- Valcour Island, New York
The 1776 gunboat Spitfire, discovered intact in 1997, is explicitly protected under the federal Sunken Military Craft Act; Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's public materials describe the wreck in detail but deliberately do not disclose its location to protect it from disturbance.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (90/100)
The wreck's position is deliberately withheld, and no confirmed casualty count for this vessel survives.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Discovery, condition, protection status.
Battle context, preservation grant.
