Subject Type: Vessel

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s replica of the gunboat Philadelphia (referred to in contemporary documents as a gundalow or gondola) of the Continental Navy. Manned by Continental Army soldiers, she was part of a fleet under the command of General Benedict Arnold that fought the 11 October 1776 Battle of Valcour Island against a larger [glossary_exclude]Royal[/glossary_exclude] Navy fleet on Lake Champlain. Although many of the American boats in the battle were damaged, Philadelphia was one of the few that actually sank that day. On the days following the main battle, most of the other boats in the American fleet were sunk, burned, or captured. She is one of a few such vessels used during the American Revolutionary War to be raised.

The schooner Lois McClure is the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s full-scale replica of an 1862-class sailing canal boat, based closely on two shipwrecks located in Burlington Harbor. Each season, the Lois tours regional waterways, welcoming the public aboard to experience local history in a modern context.