The Continental Gondola Philadelphia is the oldest surviving American fighting vessel, constructed in 1776 by American forces under the command of General Benedict Arnold. Built hastily out of green oak and pine on Lake Champlain, this 53-foot shallow-draft gunboat was part of a small, improvised fleet designed to block a British invasion from Canada during the Revolutionary War. Armed with a heavy 12-pounder bow cannon and two smaller side carriages, the Philadelphia faced a vastly superior British flotilla on October 11, 1776, at the Battle of Valcour Island. Though the American fleet suffered a tactical defeat and the Philadelphia was ultimately holed and sunk during the fierce exchange, the engagement successfully delayed the British advance south for an entire year, granting the Continental Army critical time to prepare for the turning-point victory at Saratoga.
For nearly 160 years, the gunboat rested remarkably well-preserved in the cold, deep waters of Lake Champlain until she was located and salvaged in 1935 by civil engineer Lorenzo Hagglund. Remarkably, the vessel emerged from the lake with her hull mostly intact, still containing her three original cannons, balls of ammunition, and even the remains of a British cannonball embedded in the wood. Recognized for its unparalleled historical significance, the ship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Today, the Philadelphia resides as a core exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., standing as a stark, tangible artifact from the birth of the United States Navy.
