Lecture—The Gunboat Philadelphia and the Battle of Valcour Island

Historians Kenneth Cohen and Jennifer Jones of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Valcour Island by discussing the engagement and the conservation efforts surrounding the oldest surviving American fighting vessel from the American Revolution: the Gunboat Philadelphia.

Constructed in 1776, the Philadelphia was a 3-gun gundalow of the Continental Navy that was part of a fleet commanded by Gen. Benedict Arnold and fought the British Royal Navy in the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, on October 11, 1776. In 1935, a diver searching Lake Champlain located the wreckage and miraculously found the warship standing upright and nearly intact. Soon after, the wreck was raised and salvaged before it was bequeathed to the Smithonian Institution, where it has remained in its collections since 1961. Recently, a major conservation effort has been underway to preserve the iconic vessel. Drawing from new research surrounding the vessel and their experiences with the conservation project, Cohen and Jones explore the vessels role in the Battle of Valcour Island, new discoveries, and the significance and challenges of its conservation.

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