AH-WR-0849

U.S. La Vallee

Tugboat · United States · Lost Year known; exact date not established · Lake Champlain

A working steam tug lost in Shelburne Bay in 1931, found intact in 1996 with her machinery still aboard and her wheelhouse blown apart nearby.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1880 and known earlier in her career as Henry Lloyd, the steam tug U.S. La Vallee spent decades performing the unglamorous work of towing barges and canal boats around Lake Champlain. She sank in Shelburne Bay in 1931. A 1996 side-scan sonar survey located a wreck in the reported area, and divers confirmed it as U.S. La Vallee, found upright and largely intact with her wheelhouse shattered and lying separately nearby. The museum considers her one of the lake's most archaeologically important steamboat wrecks because she retains her engine and machinery.

Vessel

Built: 1880
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: Year known; exact date not established
Cause: Not established
Location: Shelburne Bay, Lake Champlain
Water: Lake Champlain
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Sitting intact and upright on the bottom in excellent condition; wheelhouse with curved windows lies in pieces nearby, apparently blown outward.
Orientation: Upright
Discovered: 1996
Protection: Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve (Lake Champlain)

Position

Coordinates: 44.42° N 73.23° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Shelburne Bay, Lake Champlain
Region: Lake Champlain

General area only: coordinate of Shelburne Bay from USGS topographic data (GNIS feature, Bay class), marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel, not a surveyed wreck position.