The exact dimensions of New York are not known, but her sister ship Philadelphia, which is preserved and on display at the National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C., are and would probably be very close to the same. Philadelphia is 53ft (16m) long and 15ft (4.6m) wide with a draft of 2ft (0.61m).[2]
She was armed with one 12-pounder long gun mounted in the bow, two 9-pounder guns, and eight swivel guns. New York had a crew of 45 men.[2]
In the Battle of Valcour Island the American fleet had: eight gundalows, four row galleys, one sloops, and two schooner. The British Fleet had: one square-rigged ship, one Ketch-radeau, two schooners, one gundalow and 28 gunboats.
During the battle, it may have been captained by a Captain Lee,[3] or may have been turned over to a Capt. Reed when Lee, probably due to illness, was unable to sail with General Arnold's little fleet as it got under way from Crown Point 24 August.[4]
New York accompanied the flotilla up the lake, stopped at Willsborough 1 September to repair damage suffered during a severe storm and was at Isle La Motte on the 18th. On the 23rd the American ships retired into a defensive position between Valcour Island and the New York shore to await the British Capt. Thomas Pringle, RN, got his ships under way 4 October.[4]
A week later on the morning of 11 October, the two forces met in the Battle of Valcour Island which resulted in a tactical American defeat but was a great strategic victory for the patriots' cause. Battered during the action off Valcour Island, Arnold's ships slipped through the hands of the British fleet and retired south up the Lake toward Crown Point. About noon on the 13th, the British fleet pulled within range of the Americans and opened fire. Arnold's flotilla fought defiantly for over two hours before their shattered condition forced him to run his ships ashore in a little creek about 10 miles from Crown Point and burn them. With his men, he then retired through the woods to Crown Point.[4]
During the battle, one of the three cannons exploded,[5][6] killing Lieutenant Thomas Rogers.[2]
But the little fleet had served the American cause well. Its presence on the lake had delayed the British drive from Canada to cut the American colonies in two, while the redcoats were building their own fleet. After the Battle of Valcour Island, winter was too close to permit them to begin the campaign. Thus New York and her plucky little sister ships had bought the Americans a year to prepare for the onslaught, a year which made possible their stirring victory at Saratoga.[4]
New York was the only gunboat to survive the battle, along with 6 other gundalows,4 galleys, and 2 sloops. New York was later stationed at Fort Ticonderoga and fell during the July 1777 siege.[2]
"USS New York (LPD 21)". Official Website of the United States Navy. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
DANFS (13 August 2015). "New York I (Gondola)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 26 July 2016. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island. The battle is generally regarded as one of the first naval battles of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the first fought by the United States Navy. Most of the ships in the American fleet under the command of Benedict Arnold were captured or destroyed by a British force under the overall direction of General Guy Carleton. However, the American defense of Lake Champlain stalled British plans to reach the upper Hudson River valley.
USS Enterprise was a Continental Army sloop-of-war that served in Lake Champlain during the American Revolutionary War. She was the first of a long and prestigious line of ships of the United States or by the combatant forces of the U.S. Revolutionary War to bear the name Enterprise.
USS Eagle, was a ship which served in the United States Navy in 1813-1815. Originally a merchant sloop, she was purchased at Vergennes, Vermont on Lake Champlain in 1812 and fitted as either sloop of war or brig for naval service. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Finch, only to lose her back to the Americans at the Battle of Lake Champlain in 1814. She was sold in 1815.
The first USS Revenge was a Schooner in the Continental Navy. Revenge was built in the summer of 1776 by Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin at Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
The USS Liberty was a schooner built at Skenesboro, New York, on Lake Champlain, for wealthy landowner and former British Army Captain Philip Skene. It was captured on May 11, 1775, during a raid on Skenesboro led by Capt. Samuel Herrick, an early action in the American Revolution.
The first USS New Haven was a gundalow built in 1776 on Lake Champlain, Capt. Mansfield in command, under General Benedict Arnold, who was a native of the ship's namesake city. New Haven took part in the engagement with the British Squadron at the Battle of Valcour Island on 11 and 12 October 1776. The New Haven was among those vessels deliberately grounded and burned preceding the American retreat overland to Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.
USS Philadelphia is a gunboat of the Continental Navy. She was constructed from July–August 1776 for service during the American Revolutionary War. Manned by Continental Army soldiers, she was part of a fleet under the command of General Benedict Arnold that fought against the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. Philadelphia was sunk during the battle on 11 October 1776.
Valcour Bay is actually a strait or sound, located between Valcour Island and the west side of Lake Champlain, four miles south of Plattsburgh, New York. It was the site of the Battle of Valcour Island during the American Revolutionary War. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 because of this association. Valcour Bay is located in the Towns of Peru and Plattsburgh, both in Clinton County, New York.
USS Congress was a row galley that served the Continental Navy during the American Revolution.
The first USS Boston was a gundalow built at Skenesborough, New York, in 1776, with a crew of 45 for General Benedict Arnold's short-lived Lake Champlain Fleet. She took part in the Battle of Valcour Island that delayed the British invasion. She was probably commissioned sometime early in August 1776, with a Captain Sumner in command.
USS Washington was a lateen-rigged, two-masted galley in the service of the Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. Washington was capable of propulsion by sail or by the rowing of oarsmen. During a battle with British warships, Washington "struck her colors" and was captured by the British.
USS Providence, a gundalow, was built at Skenesboro, New York, on Lake Champlain by the Continental Army for Brigadier-General Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War.
A gundalow is a type of flat-bottomed sailing barge once common in Maine and New Hampshire rivers, United States. It first appeared in the mid-1600s, reached maturity of design in the 1700 and 1800s, and lingered into the early 1900s before nearly vanishing as a commercial watercraft.
USS Lee was a galley built for the Continental Navy during the American Revolution. She participated in the Battle of Valcour Island during which she was grounded and lost. However, her participation in the battle helped delay the British advance on New York City by a year.
USS Spitfire was an American gundalow that operated as a gunboat in 1776 on Lake Champlain. She was part of Benedict Arnold's small, hastily built fleet of ships whose purpose was to counter any British invasion forces passing through the lake from Canada. Her service life was brief; after only a few months patrolling the lake she was lost in the aftermath of the Battle of Valcour Island. The gunboat's wreck was located and documented in the 1990s by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.
American colonial marines were various naval infantry units which served during the Revolutionary War on the Patriot side. After the conflict broke out in 1775, nine of the rebelling Thirteen Colonies established state navies to carry out naval operations. Accordingly, several marine units were raised to serve as an infantry component aboard the ships of these navies. The marines, along with the navies they served in, were intended initially as a stopgap measure to provide the Patriots with naval capabilities before the Continental Navy reached a significant level of strength. After its establishment, state navies, and the marines serving in them, participated in several operations alongside the Continental Navy and its marines.
Royal Savage was a two-masted schooner built by the British in the summer of 1775. She was damaged and sunk by soldiers of the United Colonies during the Siege of Fort St. Jean and later raised and repaired after the fort was captured. She then participated in General Benedict Arnold's campaign on Lake Champlain. The British captured and burnt her in October 1776 at Valcour Island.
The first USS Trumbull was a row galley built in 1776 at Skenesboro, New York, for service in General Benedict Arnold's fleet on Lake Champlain. She was launched on 10 September 1776 and began active service soon thereafter, Capt. Seth Warner in command.
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