Phoenix
Sidewheel Steamboat · United States · Lost 1819 · Lake Champlain
The second steamboat on Lake Champlain burned on a night run in 1819, leaving the oldest sidewheel steamer wreck known anywhere in the world.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
Phoenix was built in 1815 at Vergennes, Vermont, as the second commercial steamboat on Lake Champlain, running between Whitehall and St. Johns. On the night of September 5, 1819, fire broke out amidships on the Burlington-to-Plattsburgh run; six of the forty-six aboard died in the confusion, while the captain and others were rescued the next morning. The charred hull grounded on Colchester Shoal. Rediscovered by divers in 1978, it is recognized as the oldest known sidewheel steamboat wreck in the world.
Vessel
- 1815
- Lake Champlain Steamboat Company
- Vergennes, Vermont
- Wood
- 146 ft
- 27 ft
- Not established
- Steam, steeple engine, sidewheels with auxiliary sail
- Lake Champlain Steamboat Company
Loss
- September 5, 1819
- Fire
- Colchester Shoal, off Colchester, Vermont
- Lake Champlain
- Burlington, Vermont → Plattsburgh, New York
- Passengers and freight
- 46
- 6
- Richard Sherman
The Wreck Today
- Shallow shoal water
- Charred lower hull survives; roughly forty percent of the vessel remains.
- Not established
- 1978
- Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve; National Register of Historic Places
Position
- 44.553° N 73.331° W
- Surveyed position
- Colchester, Vermont
Position published with the National Register listing.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (95/100)
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Sinking narrative, casualties, rediscovery.
International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (George Schwarz, Naval History and Heritage Command)
Archaeological study and dating as the earliest known steamboat wreck.
