Service History
Philadelphia was placed in service under a Captain Rice shortly after she was completed. Late in August General Arnold assembled his fleet and cruised provocatively on the northern stretches of Lake Champlain. On September 23, in anticipation of the larger British fleet's arrival, he stationed his ships in Valcour Bay, the strait separating the western shore of the lake from Valcour Island. When the two forces clashed on October 11, Philadelphia was under the command of Benjamin Rue, and was part of the formation Arnold established in the Valcour strait. Early in the six-hour fight the 12-gun schooner USS Royal Savage ran aground and was burned. Toward dusk the British guns holed Philadelphia with a 24-pound (10.9 kg) shot and she soon sank. Darkness ended the action, and Arnold was able to slip away during the night. Many of his remaining ships were burned, sunk, or captured over the next two days as the British pursued him toward Ticonderoga.
In sea trials of the replica Philadelphia II, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum determined that the boat was not particularly maneuverable: contemporary accounts of sailing the vessels include reports that the gondolas skipped across the waters of the lake, blown by the wind, and needed safe shelter when winds were high.
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