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 Growler was a 112-ton sloop-of-war, armed with ten 18-pounders and one 6-pounder, during the War of 1812. The United States Navy purchased Growler on Lake Champlain in 1812. The British captured her in 1813 and renamed her HMS Chub or Chubb. The Americans recaptured her at the Battle of Lake Champlain. She was sold in 1815.
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.
HMS Bristol was a 50-gun Portland-class fourth-rate ship of the line, built for the Royal Navy in the 1770s. She served as a flagship during the Battle of Sullivan's Island, Charleston, South Carolina in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War and later participated in the 1783 Battle of Cuddalore during the Anglo-French War of 1778–83. By 1787 the ship had been converted into a church ship. Converted into a prison ship in 1794, Bristol instead served as a hospital ship until she was broken up in 1810.
HMCS Carleton is a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve Division (NRD) located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS Carleton is a land-based naval training establishment crewed by part-time sailors and also serves as a local recruitment centre for the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve. It is one of 24 naval reserve divisions located in major cities across Canada.
HMS Wolfe was a 20-gun sloop-of-war, launched at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard at Kingston, Upper Canada, on 22 April 1813. She served in the British naval squadron in several engagements on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812. Upon her launch, Wolfe was made the flagship of the squadron until larger vessels became available. Along with the naval engagements on Lake Ontario, Wolfe supported land operations in the Niagara region and at the Battle of Fort Oswego. Following the war, the vessel was laid up in reserve and eventually sold in 1832.
HMS Lord Melville was a brig of the Royal Navy launched at Kingston, Ontario, on 20 July 1813. Initially designed as a schooner, she was altered to 14-gun brig in 1813. She served on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812, and was renamed HMS Star on 22 January 1814. By 1815, she was unfit for anything but transport duties. She was sold in 1837.
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.
HMS Centaur was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy, launched on 14 March 1797 at Woolwich. She served as Sir Samuel Hood's flagship in the Leeward Islands and the Channel. During her 22-year career Centaur saw action in the Mediterranean, the Channel, the West Indies, and the Baltic, fighting the French, the Dutch, the Danes, and the Russians. She was broken up in 1819.
Néréide was a Sibylle-class, 32-gun, copper-hulled frigate of the French Navy. On 22 December 1797 HMS Phoebe captured her and she was taken into British service as HMS Nereide. The French recaptured her at the Battle of Grand Port, only to lose her again when the British took Isle de France, in 1810. After the Battle of Grand Port she was in such a poor condition that she was laid up and sold for breaking up in 1816.
James Richard Dacres was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral.
Vice-Admiral Thomas Pringle was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
HMS Highflyer was originally an American privateer schooner built in 1811. As a privateer she took several British vessels as prizes. The Royal Navy captured her in 1813. She then participated in several raids on the Chesapeake and coastal Virginia before the Americans recaptured her later in 1813.
HMS Shelburne was the American letter of marque schooner Racer, built in Baltimore in 1811 and captured by the British in 1813. She served on the American coast, capturing the American brig Frolic. She also captured some merchantmen and was sold in Britain in 1817.
HMS Surprise was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which served throughout the American Revolutionary War and was broken up in 1783.
HMS Quebec was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate launched in 1781 and broken up in 1816. She sailed under various captains, participating in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. During these wars she captured many enemy merchantmen and smaller privateers. One action led to her men qualifying for clasp to the Naval General Service Medal.
HMS Canso was the American letter of marque schooner Lottery, launched in 1811, that a British squadron captured in 1813. The Royal Navy took Lottery into service as HMS Canso and she served during the War of 1812 and briefly thereafter. The navy sold her in 1816.
HMS Barbuda was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1780 after having briefly served as an American privateer. Barbuda was one of the two sloops that captured Demerara and Essequibo in 1781, but the French Navy captured her there in 1782 and took her into service as Barboude. The French Navy sold her to private owners in 1786, and she served briefly as a privateer in early 1793 before the French Navy purchased her again and named her Légère. She served them until mid-1796 when the Royal Navy captured her and took her into service as HMS Legere. She was wrecked off the coast of Colombia, without loss of life, in February 1801.
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.
HMS Gaspée was purchased in North America in 1772, commissioned in 1773, and captured in 1775. The Royal Navy recaptured her in 1776. She was recommissioned and served again until prepared for disposal at the end of 1777. At some point she was at the "Battle of Fundy", but when this occurred and what her role was is currently obscure.
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