HMS Confiance (1814) - The Debris Field

The Debris Field

According to local sport divers, a debris field made up of wreckage from the Confiance, as well as the other vessels involved in the 1814 battle, still lies strewn across the floor of Lake Champlain beneath the site. This field purportedly consists of wreckage of all kinds that was cleared from the decks of the vessels and pushed over the side during and after the engagement. Also supposedly present are several cannon, possibly as many as thirteen, that were thrown overboard from the Confiance by the Americans following the British surrender to lighten her and correct a serious list as the vessel was actually in danger of sinking. To date, this debris field has never been fully explored or documented by professionals, but may be viewable from the surface on a magnetometer. Plattsburgh Bay, the actual scene of the engagement, was among the very first sites in the United States to be declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.