USS Philadelphia (1776) - Raising The Wreck

Raising The Wreck

In the 1930s, Lorenzo Hagglund, a veteran of World War I and a history buff, began searching the strait for remains of the battle. In 1932 he found the remains of Royal Savage's hull, which he successfully raised in 1934. Hagglund followed up his discovery of Royal Savage with the discovery of Philadelphia's remains in 1935, sitting upright on the lake bottom. He raised her that year; in addition to the guns and hull, hundreds of other items were recovered from the vessel. These relics included shot, cooking utensils, tools, buttons, buckles and human bones.

Philadelphia was exhibited at various locations on Lake Champlain and the Hudson River before becoming a long-term display at Exeter, New York. Lorenzo Hagglund spent years searching for other ships in Arnold's fleet, and raised another gunboat in 1952. Funding for a structure to house that find and the Royal Savage fell through, and that boat's remains were eventually ruined through neglect and looting.

In the wake of that failure Hagglund approached the Smithsonian Institution to preserve Philadelphia, and in 1961, bequeathed her and associated artifacts to that organization. According to the Whitehall Times, the remains had suffered more damage during their time above water than below. The boat and artifacts are now part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History, in Washington, D.C. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated a National Historic Landmark. She remains in precarious condition: as of 2001 the wood and iron fittings continued to show signs of deterioration despite attempts to stabilize them.

In 1997, another pristine underwater wreck was located during a survey by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Two years later it was conclusively identified as the gundalow Spitfire.