Land Tortoise
Radeau · Great Britain · Lost Autumn 1758 (deliberately sunk for winter storage) · Lake George
A seven-sided floating gun battery built in a month in 1758, scuttled for the winter and never raised; the oldest intact warship in North America.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Land Tortoise was a seven-sided radeau built in 1758 by provincial militia for the British campaign on Lake George during the French and Indian War. After her trials she was intentionally sunk with ballast that autumn for winter storage, with plans to raise her in the spring. The chosen site proved too deep for recovery, and a replacement was built instead. Rediscovered in 1990 by the Bateaux Below team, she rests at about 105 feet and is a National Historic Landmark.
Vessel
- 1758
- Captain Samuel Cobb, provincial militia
- Lake George, New York
- Wood
- 52 ft
- 18 ft
- Not established
- Oar
- British provincial forces
Loss
- Autumn 1758 (deliberately sunk for winter storage)
- Intentional sinking
- Southern basin of Lake George, about two miles north of the village
- Lake George
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 100-105 feet
- Intact; believed the oldest intact warship in North America.
- Not established
- 1990
- National Historic Landmark; New York State Submerged Heritage Preserve
Position
- 43.440° N 73.693° W
- Surveyed position
- Lake George, New York
Position published with the National Historic Landmark documentation.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (95/100)
National Park Service, National Historic Landmark listing
NHL designation and status.
Discovery narrative and historian commentary.
